FEAKLE’s hurlers have been dreaming of winning a senior championship from a young age.
At full forward, Martin Daly had a big role to play in their success, acting as an excellent target man and he caused plenty of problems for the Sixmilebridge in Monday’s decider both by catching and breaking ball, while he also popped up with their second score of the day when fetching an Eibhear Quilligan clearance from the sky.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Daly reflected, “We didn’t envisage that we were going to have a bit of a gap. We knew it was still going to be a close run thing and Owen McGann coming on and getting that goal put a bit of daylight between the teams. It was just great to get over the line”.
Guidance on dealing with the big day was provided by county men, Quilligan and Adam Hogan, he said. “It’s completely uncharted territory for us coming into a county final and being behind the band. Eibhear and Adam were used to it with the Munster and All-Ireland Final so they gave us a heads up on what to do, what not to do and just thing about the game. It was just adrenaline for 60-70 minutes. We thought the adrenaline would kick out after 5 or 10 minutes but there was no end. I was out of breath for the fifty or fifty five minutes I was on”.
Preparation also ensured each player knew their task for the final. “We did a lot of video analysis coming into the match. Lads were envisaging who they’d be picking up in one on ones and winning their own battles”.
Daly had supporters from behind enemy lines with his partner Aoife Roche swapping the Bridge colours for Feakle. He quipped that her parents were “looking for the transfer papers but I’ll stick to my routes. I was told last night it was a Feakle household. I think it’ll be Feakle for a week anyways”.
Staying ahead was important for the East Clare side, Martin stressed. “The likes of Ronan O’Connor and Conn Smyth were exceptional today. Jamie Shanahan was exceptional throughout the championship and he was kind of quiet today. We were just trying to be that one step ahead”.
“There will 100% be a week off. Our main goal this year was to go one step extra and get into the final but there’s no good getting into a final if you don’t go one step further again. It’s great for this bunch. I’ve been playing at a level for the last 10 years. I’ve two intermediate titles and it doesn’t really mean much. That senior level title is all we wanted and we’ve been dreaming about it since we were kids. It’s just great to get over the line. We haven’t thought about Munster. We might be a bit like Darragh O’Donovan going into that one,” he added.
