Ronan McCarthy on Mourneabbey: They are a fantastic bunch of players

IT may have been nine in 10 years for Mourneabbey but for their manager Ronan McCarthy it was his first with the club, having taken over from Shane Ronayne this season.

Before he turned his attention to the final he first addressed why he took on the job, particularly as following on from Ronayne was never going to be an easy task.

“Look, I suppose I hadn't thought about it really. I'd been coaching girls in Douglas with my own club and where my own kids play once I had finished up with the Cork senior footballers.

“So it was a very interesting proposition when I was asked to take on the job. They’re a team obviously with massive ambitions every year and I suppose it was something that took me out of my comfort zone.

“It was certainly different for me and then you know they've been a fantastic group of players to work with and there's such quality throughout the club and the team and there is a great bunch of young players coming through as.”

Turning his attention to the game he said there was nothing between the sides all through the game before Brid O’Sullivan got the all-important winning point.

“No, there was nothing in it and that was going to be the way. There's been a lot of change, let's say from the team three years ago. 

I think maybe nine of that team in total, with the five from 2021 and four from 2022, aren't here playing today which is a massive change.

“But there are really good quality players coming through the underage sides. I think the club to be fair, you know want to win, but know they're also looking forward to the next group of players because Brid, Doireann, Ciara and all those won’t be around forever.

“They're all fantastic players, but they won’t go on forever, so I think this is an important one for the club in that it's maybe a transition into a new team and if you can do that and keep winning then it’s brilliant.

“When you come through on the right side of a game like that, and we could equally have lost it, it brings players on. We got a lot of young players into the team, some of them starting and it will certainly help them as we go into the the Munster campaign.

“We will savor and enjoy today, every championship counts and you never take it for granted and the club certainly doesn’t.

“They're a wonderful bunch of players. They showed great heart despite the setbacks like losing Laura (Fitzgerald) early on. We obviously didn't have Doireann for the game, we got her in at the end, and despite all that, they kept at and got there in the end."