*Thomas O’Connor celebrates scoring St Flannan’s second goal. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
ST FLANNAN’S COLLEGE showed their character to put themselves within sixty minutes of reaching the Croke Cup final in Croke Park.
An unanswered tally of 2-3 saw St Flannan’s come from ten points down to defeat CBC Kilkenny 2-12 0-13 in Bansha on Saturday.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, St Flannan’s mentor Mike Kelly noted their resilience has been evident throughout their campaign. “It’s not the first time that we’ve had to come back this year but they just have that in them that they are able to sort things out on the field themselves and it was sufficient to see us pull through again today. It seems to be a bit of a characteristic now. Look I felt that we were comfortable enough in the first half until we started giving away a bit of ball and they [CBC Kilkenny] grabbed momentum and pushed their lead from two to five”.
Leinster finalists CBC Kilkenny led 0-9 0-4 when the half-time whistle sounded but Kelly and the management team of Brendan Bugler, Shane McCarthy and Seán Minogue remained upbeat at the break. “We still weren’t overly worried at half-time but on a day like today with the conditions as they were, scores were hard to come by so we needed a big second half. And look, it’s a 35 minute half now so we knew we did have time but it still came down to character really”.
Newmarket-on-Fergus native Kelly felt Graham Ball’s goal was a real turning point in the tie. “The first goal was really the turning point really as points were hard to come by and on a day like today and on an occasion such as this, a goal was massive. That really gave us the momentum then and once we got back the lead we never let them back in which was important I felt”.
Taking over the mantle as freetaker was Inagh/Kilnamona’s John Barry who really stepped up, Kelly maintained. “John Barry’s free were also important too though. It wasn’t an easy thing for him to do either as Harry [Doherty] is our free taker and we have great trust in Harry. Just today we felt that we needed a change and with John coming back into the team today, his experience of taking them for the Clare minors provide invaluable as he really stepped up in that second half”.
A Croke Cup semi-final awaits with Pres Athenry. “We’re playing Pres. Athenry now whom we know fairly well. We played them this time last year and we always play them in a challenge every year too so we’re under no illusions as to the extent of the challenge we face in a fortnight’s time. They’re a very serious team with a very serious forward line so playing the Connacht champions is going to be another big challenge. But once we’re still in the hat for the final, we don’t mind who we play so we’ll look forward to that match on Saturday week and see if we can get to Croke Park”.
