"We had 15 heroes out on the field" says Kiltubrid manager Stephen Sheeran
You almost didn’t have to ask but the pride Stephen Sheeran had in his Kiltubrid players’ performance last Saturday in the Connacht LGFA Intermediate Club Final just shone through as he paid tribute to his charges.
An injury time free gave Charlestown a 1-10 to 0-12 victory after Kiltubrid had recovered from a six point deficit and Stephen paid fulsome tribute to his players: “There was 15 heroes across the pitch there today - at one stage we were trying to work out that we could bring in fresh legs.
“But you’re looking around and you’ve got 15 players who are playing exceptionally well and you think ‘who do we take off’ to bring in fresh legs? Yes we needed energy but everyone has played so well and it is very hard to make that call. The girls who came in added to it again, the girls who didn’t get to come in would have if they got the chance.”
Stephen referred back to his words ahead of the game that even with a 100% performance, Kiltubrid would need something special: “The girls did everything right in that second half, it just wasn’t enough. I said it during the week ‘you may play 100% and might not get the result’ and it was just that kind of day, we gave ourselves too much to do after the first half.
“Our second half was awesome, the girls did everything. Sometimes that happens in the first half with the big occasion, the ten minutes beforehand where you are lining up, meeting these people - it is just a big occasion you don’t get to very often and you don’t really get prepared for that.
“I suppose mentally it could be that but you are always going to find things after - if we had won, we’d have said we rose to the occasion. It is small moments, little things that become big moments when you look back on it.”
Stephen paid tribute to Charlestown for the resilience they showed: “In fairness to Charlestown, they showed great character, we knew that anybody who came out of Mayo is going to be good and they showed that.”
Reflecting on the game, Stephen put Saturday’s loss down to a learning experience: “I think it is hard to find a negative in it, we showed we can do it and sometimes you get days like that and every great team, there are days when sometimes goes wrong and sometimes you have enough left in the tank to get over it.
“We just didn’t today, I don’t think we’ll go massively focusing on today when we review the year, it is a learning but we won’t overly dwell on it.”
Stephen also hopes Kiltubrid will push on after winning the Senior B title and reaching the Connacht Intermediate Club Final: “If you were looking at the beginning of the year, somebody sent me on a report that there is the big three teams and then there is Kiltubrid
“That nearly hurt a little bit, I thought we were right up there with those top two or three teams. I think we’ve shown that this year and that there is that bit of pride in the jersey. There are girls coming through, hopefully they stay at this level for years to come.”