James Stephens' defender Jackie Tyrell produced an awesome display in yesterday's county final, and the county star did not deserve to be on the losing side. Tyrell began the match at wing back, but was switched to centre back at half time and really excelled as he curbed Henry Shefflin's influence on the game. However, Tyrell admitted that the early goal proved decisive as the Village struggled to find their way back into the match, despite a battling second half display. "We knew if we hurled on the day, worked hard, we'd be there or thereabouts. No-one really gave us a chance but we had a game-plan and stuck to it," he said. "The early goals killed us, we never really recovered from it. We're very disappointed, it was there for us but we just never kicked on. Overall they probably deserved to win it. "When it was there to be won Michael Fennelly drove up the field, got a great score, they had that extra bit and it counted on the day. The goals killed us, they're great at getting goals while we struggled to get them at the other end - the story of the game." Tweet

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