*Éire Óg’s Darren O’Brien. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
ÉIRE ÓG are not as bad as the scoreline of the Munster semi-final suggests while the amount of games caught up with their footballers.
Disappointed with Sunday’s result but immensely proud of the players and their efforts throughout the year. That was the reaction of Éire Óg manager Shane Daniels when reflecting on the team’s defeat in the Munster club football semi-final on Sunday.
“We were happy enough with the start, we were controlling the ball fairly well,” he reflected. Things turned when St Finbarr’s got in for their first goal. “It was a mis kicked shot that looped into the net. It came against the run of play and it killed our momentum”.
Daniels continued, “we were pushing up at the end, trying to make something happen, and we got caught for a couple of scores. As I said, they are a really good side. They are a strong outfit, really good and they were the better side on the day. We could have played better and we are not as bad as the scoreline suggests”.
Overall “it’s been a fantastic year for Éire Óg football, competitively we only lost two games at senior level, the opening game of the year against Kilmurry Ibrickane and Sunday’s game against St Finbarrs. We are Cusack Cup and Clare senior champions”.
The manager was full of praise for his players. “The football only lads trained really hard on their own while the commitment of the dual players was fantastic also. They never complained and they didn’t miss a session or games. We were very fortunate on the injury front and that is a credit to the training”, manager Shane told The Clare Echo.
He complimented all involved with the scheduling of training ensuring that the dual players weren’t over worked. That said he agreed that “the amount of games caught up with some of the lads which was to be expected given the amount of games they had”.
Continuing he said “a good few players made their debut this year, players like Darren Moroney and Cian Howard, and hopefully they will push on. There are a lot of good young footballers in the club”.
Asked if he will be in the role again next season he said “we haven’t thought about anything like that yet. We are still re-assessing Sunday’s game. What will happen next year will depend on a number of factors. We will see what areas the club and management can improve on. We won’t plan anything yet”, he concluded.
