Jordan Morris year of the underdog continues to club championship

Michael Bolton

The club championship has so far been the story of the underdogs, with Jordan Morris helping Kingscourt Stars to their first county title in Cavan in a decade.

The Meath forward scored nine points as they defeated Gowna, in what has been a stellar year for the 25-year-old.

After securing a transfer to his home club in 2022, success has now followed, after the club were defeated in the 2023 decider.

Seeing how the suport from the community as the club overcame setbacks, Morris was relieved to finally get his hands on silverware for the club.

"Seeing the crowds in Kingscourt and the community coming out in force was just unbelievable.

I was on the bus in 2010 and 2015. Stuff you dream about. We had to write a few wrongs from the 2023 final, to get the monkey off our back, and that was probably on our minds a bit too much last year when we didn't get to a quarter-final.

"We knew we had a challenge this year and that's what drove us on in the end."

In the Meath jersey, it was a year of overcoming the odds, as they reached the All-Ireland semi-finals.

Along the way, Robbie Brennan's side defeated Dublin, Kerry, and Galway before being defeated by Donegal.

A journey which very few people across the country would have seen coming, Morris reflected on the win over Dublin, the first time they were defeated in the Leinster championship since 2010.

"The emotion on the pitch that day was unreal to see," said Morris.

"Attendances went through the roof after that game. Meath fans have been waiting to support a team and this year we gave them something to cheer about. But we don't want to be a flash in the pan. We have a lot of work ahead of us to build on what was a good year.

"Our supporters, quite rightly, now expect more."

Turning up on the big days and producing performances was the theme of Meath's season, and has now transferred to his club in Cavan.

In a sign of the times, Morris credited the analysis of the opposition in the lead-up to games.

"The way we analysed teams this year was so in-depth, looking at kick-outs and attacking set-ups. It paid dividends for us as we didn't use that in years gone by, all that player analysis. All that helped us in beating the likes of Kerry, Dublin and Galway, that player-led analysis.

"Even against Gowna, we studied their kickouts, giving us a platform for what we could do."