*St Breckan’s manager, Declan O’Keeffe.
CRATLOE’S EXPERIENCE OF the big day was the difference but St Breckan’s manager Declan O’Keeffe is confident his side can bounce back and claim silverware.
Lining out in their first county final since 1996, St Breckan’s came up just short by a margin of two points against Cratloe in Cusack Park on Sunday.
Missed chances and unforced errors were cited by a disappointed Declan O’Keeffee when he reflected on their loss. “An awful lot of work has gone into this not just this year but over the last couple of years, the better team won on the day to be honest, Cratloe missed two open goal chances if I’m to be honest”.
He added, “We had a couple of chances after half time to go ahead and we didn’t take them, lads maybe snapped at them, a couple of hand passes didn’t go to hand, maybe it was the nerves on the big day, I don’t know, all them things have to go right in a county final and they didn’t, we were punished by a team who you could see had been around the block”.
To lose both Jack Sheedy and Colm O’Brien to injury on either side of half-time was a major setback for the North Clare outfit. “They are two attacking flanks for us and two great defenders, when they are taken away from us, I don’t think any team in the county can afford those losses. We’re not making excuses, Padraig O’Dwyer and Denis O’Callaghan who just about recovered from a fractured collarbone came on and did themselves justice, Padraig is only eighteen and he passed at some fella for a ball at the end which kept us alive for another few minutes. There is great youth and enthusiasm, they love their football and I’d be hoping they stick with it, there is definitely silverware in this team,” O’Keeffe stated.
As they struggled on their own kickout in the second half, one such example seeing Cathal McInerney raid for the defining goal on forty three minutes, management made the call to substitute goalkeeper Mark O’Donnell for Tristan O’Callaghan.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, O’Keeffe who won two All Stars as a goalkeeper admitted, “It is a very difficult situation, we felt we needed to get our hands on the ball, we have Tristan on the line so we used him, I think he settled us down a little bit after that. It was obviously a pivotal moment in the game, it was only a point in it at that stage, to be fair to our lads we were nip and tuck all the way but a major like that is going to be crucial in a game like this”.
Bouncing back is now the only option for St Breckan’s next season, the ex Kerry goalkeeper felt. “There is no other way out of it, that is sport, we could it on our television screens from Paris, we pour ourselves into this game, we love it and we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t, we know the risks and the rewards, I’m very proud to be associated and involved with St Breckan’s, I’ve made a plethora of friends up there, I’m very proud of the lads and I know they will be back, I know there is a great response in that dressing room and I wouldn’t hang around with them otherwise”.
