In a Corn Uí Mhuirí semi-final that was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for supporters of both schools in Killarney on Saturday, St. Brendans manager Kieran Herlihy may have been the calmest man in the Fitzgerald Stadium.
he Sem had a bit of breathing space at the end of the Munster Schools SFC semi-final, eventually overcoming Mercy Mounthawk Tralee by 2-16 to 0-13, and perhaps that afforded Herlihy a little time to consider not just the result and its implications, but also the performance of his team.
“My first emotion after the final whistle wasn't really so much relief as satisfaction. It's a sign that the work that all the players are putting in and the management team are putting in is being rewarded. So probably mostly satisfaction,” Herlihy told The Kerryman.
“The second emotion would be that we are aware that we are not the finished article. We will be looking to the challenges ahead, we won't be resting on any laurels. But after that, yeah, there might be a little relief,” he added, with the final against St. Francis College, Rochestown on Saturday week to come.
Last Saturday certainly wasn't a perfect display from Herlihy’s team, and the manager's main focus between here and the Munster final will be on areas to improve, especially after that very tight first quarter.
“We found it hard going in the first half. In fairness, Mounthawk are a very good team, but we were forcing the issue a small bit, not really using the fine expanse of the Fitzgerald Stadium very well. The lads found their composure eventually, and we proved what we can do when we have the ball in our possession. For fifteen minutes or so we were making it hard for ourselves unnecessarily until we settled,” he said.
The return of key players from lengthy injury lay-offs has definitely strengthened the St Brendan’s team. Charlie Keating unfortunately came off injured after a sterling performance against Bandon, but full back Cian Lynch and full forward Luke Crowley played against Mercy Mounthawk, and played well.
“The return of Cian Lynch and Luke Crowley has obviously been a huge boost for us. We have a strong leadership group. They set the tone and everybody buys into it,” the manager said. “Look, they are great fellas around the camp, but at the same time, six or seven strong players won't do it. You need a big buy-in from everyone. The lads have put in an awful lot of work, and thankfully, between the quarter-final on Wednesday and the semi-final today, they have had a good week.”
As always, Herlihy is looking ahead rather than backwards. The fact that it is a Kerry team meeting a Cork team in the final always adds a bit of extra spice to a final for onlookers, but the truth is that it's not really a factor in his approach.
“It's ourselves and St. Francis Rochestown now in the final, and we have to start preparing for that. It's been a long time since a Kerry v Cork school in the final [it was in 2015 when SP Chorca Dhuibhne beat Rochestown and went on to lift the Hogan Cup]. There was a bit of emphasis this year on the fact of five Cork schools reaching the quarter-finals, but the way that the draw panned out, we knew that there was going to be one Cork team in the final. We weren't looking at that. We don't look that far ahead. We were just looking at getting past Bandon last Wednesday, and as soon as we did, our focus turned to becoming the last Kerry team.
"Obviously we want to do the school proud and we want to achieve our own targets, but we want to be good representatives of the county as well, and the next thing for us is to try and have a good outcome in the final.”
Meanwhile, Mercy Mounthawk joint-manager Eamonn Lally, who co-manages Mercy Mounthawk with Patrick Sugrue and Aidan O'Shea, was rueful of some of the chances his side didn't take when they were on top in the opening quarter.
“The chances were there alright. Look, The Sem got two reasonably fortuitous goals and that first one was the turning point. It went against us a small bit and you won't get away with that. Mistakes are made in football. We had our own chances, but we didn't score, and I mean, that's what happens,” Lally, who was very proud of all the effort this team had put in over the year, told The Kerryman.
"Reaching a Munster Senior semi-final is no mean feat for any team, especially one with this age profile, and it gives real hope for next year. The Sem are a fantastic team. That's a team that could go on and win a Hogan Cup with that kind of performance. But of our lads, that was their first time reaching a semi-final, and that's a fair achievement in itself. They showed great character. Of that team, there's twelve of them that will be starting again next year.”
One particular display that made everyone sit up and take notice was Rob Monahan up front and then in midfield.
“I'm sure we'll all be watching Rob on other fields with a Kerry jersey. Rob is a great footballer and he's a great young man. But it wasn't just Rob – we had a lot of players out there who had great character. You have to win to know how to lose and you have to lose to know how to win, and these boys do know that and they do understand that,” Lally said.
"The Sem are the only team to actually beat us this year. We've played them three times and unfortunately, we have lost to them three times, but we always kept coming back out for more. Like I said, the first half was tit for tat and then the goal, it inflated them and it deflated us. In the third quarter we managed to bring it back to within a point but getting to that stage took a lot out of us. Realistically, we should have been ahead after the first half. We kicked four or five wides.
“It's small things, just the small turnovers that they were winning first, things like that. We can't do much about that, but the experience we gained today for the twelve starters and the panel members who are eligible, that will stand to them next year. We'll be seeded next year so we won't be starting out against the likes of The Sem next year. This year we had The Sem and Coláiste na Sceilge, who were a fine team in their own right, in our group.
"The first day in the O'Sullivan Cup final, we didn't show up at all. The second day in the group stage of the Corn Uí Mhuirí, we made a better battle of it and again today. Look, that's what happens. In sport it's not just about winning and losing. We lost today, but we are very proud of the effort all the lads put in, and we wish The Sem all the best going forward.”
