Final heartbreak for Seans
December 30, 2010The Moutrush seemed destined to end their long wait for a Championship title when dominating the Junior decider against Naomh Fionnbarra. However, a late collapse saw the Togher side snatch the Christy Bellew Cup and the Seans were left to reflect on another missed opportunity.
Despite the manner of that heart-breaking defeat, the McDermotts manager, Jim Matthews, believes that the club will bounce back stronger than ever.
The Hunterstown man spent his first year in charge of the Seans and has seen enough in terms of ability and commitment to suggest that the team can come back next year and make amends for the disappointment.
Like everyone involved with the McDermotts, Jim knows that his side should have won the Junior Championship but has been long enough in football to realise that you don't always win the games you deserve.
"The lads had got to the semi-final last year and when I came in at the start of the year, our number one priority was to improve on that and win the championship," explained Jim
"We were certainly on course to do that but just didn't put the game away when we were on top in the final. With eight minutes remaining we were well on top. We owned the ball from the start of the half and within ten minutes had gone four points up.
"However, as has happened a number of times during the year we didn't get the scores to finish teams off. We were so much on top in the second half but when the Finbarrs got a point late in the half, they were just three behind and I think that really gave them a lift and they finished very strongly.
"We also had chances in the first half but at half time I wasn't that worried about being behind because I knew we would come good. I looked at the video after the game and we really should have been further ahead, but it is all about taking scores. They say that goals win games and that was the case for the Finbarrs.
"I suppose you have to try to take some positives from a defeat like that and it was encouraging that we didn't freeze on the day and played very well, but we weren't able to see it out," he explained.
While that was a crushing blow for his players, Jim reveals that they manner in which they bounced back for the next vital league game illustrated the strength of the character that lies within the team.
"We were fixed to play Roche Emmets in a league game the following Saturday and I think that game really
said a lot about the character of the team.
"We met back for training on the Thursday night and the attitude appeared to be right but you never know until you go out on the field. Roche came with a full team because they needed the points but we played with a great intensity that perhaps we had left behind in the final and we had scored four goals before half time to set us up for victory.
"I was delighted with that because I remember the opposite had happened after the semi-final. We had played very well in beating the Glen Emmets but then went out against Young Irelands in the league and suffered a heavy defeat," added the manager.
As a result of that display, Jim believes that there is a lot more to come from this bunch of players and over the course of the season he has been very impressed with their attitude and ability.
"This year was my first time away from Hunterstown and my only memories of the Sean McDermotts was that you would never get a handy game when you played them.
"However, overall I have enjoyed the year and learned a lot along the way. I have been very impressed with how keen they are and they are so committed it makes this a very easy place to work in.
"Despite missing out this year I really think this team has a lot to offer. They often say that to win one you have to lose one and I believe that if the players keep doing what they are doing, they will be there or thereabouts come next year and I would love to see them win a championship.
"They have a good squad of players at the minute, while there are a number of lads who didn't play this year for various reasons. There is Peter Osborne, John Curran, Adam Finlay and Colin Curran and if a couple of them come back in 2011 it could make a real difference to the team."
The addition of two or three more players would, according to Matthews, be a significant boost for a team that has been very competitive all year without always playing to their full capacity.
"At the start of the season we decided to use the Kevin Mullen Shield to try players out and we managed to do that while also getting to the final where we drew with St Fechins.
"From there we went into the Division 2 League which is very competitive but we went all out to do our best in that. We lost to the Geradlines in the opening game but then beat Dundalk Gaels, however, we seemed to be badly affected by letting a ten point lead slip against St Mochtas and only picked up a draw in that game.
"Nevertheless, we proved that we can compete with the top teams as we only lost to O Raghallaighs by a point and Dreadnots by two points. Over the season we learned the need to take scores and the failure to do so meant that we were fighting for our survival come the end of the year," continued Jim.
It was the championship that provided the best moments for the club in 2010 as they managed to get the bit of luck required to see them advance.
"After the draw for the championship we were expected to come out of the group and had a comfortable win over Annaghminnon in the first match. However, against St Kevins we didn't fire and were left hanging on again. That win put us through to the quarter-final against the Nicks and we built up a good lead but had to withstand a lot of pressure in the closing stages.
"The encouraging thing was that we were winning games without hitting top form, but I have to say that we were lucky to come out of the semi-final against Glen Emmets with a draw. However, we learned a lot from that game and in the replay we produced our best display of the season.
"Unfortunately would couldn't finish it off in the final but I think there is enough to suggest from this season that the players can come back and make amends in the near future," explained Jim. Tweet
