Mícheál Breathnach minor football manager Tomás Ó Neachtain proud of his side
MÍCHEÁL Breathnach manager Tomás Ó Neachtain praised his side after they ended a 49-year wait for the club’s third-ever Minor A title.
“They’re a talented bunch, they have been for years. Sometimes with a team you think it’s all hype, but for a team to have so much potential and then to actually reach that potential and to overcome the obstacles in the way, it’s just a very proud day for the club,” he said.
Ó Neachtain highlighted bringing the club’s U-17 and U-19 squads together at training.
“We find that it’s better to keep them together in a way that they get to know each other,” he explained. “It just drives competition. A 16 or 17-year-old mightn’t think he can make an U-19 team, but he actually can, if he’s good enough.”
With many players also involved in hurling, Ó Neachtain stressed player welfare.
“It’s all about communication and making sure lads aren’t being overworked or anything like that,” he said.
“These lads don’t know it yet, but there’s a bond now between these groups of lads for the rest of their lives by winning today’s cup. This is the local GAA kind of folklore.
“Their pictures from today are going to be hung up on a lot of houses, maybe in Tigh Chualáin, An Poitin Stil or Tigh Terry, and they're going to be up there for an age.
“So hopefully, I might be around for the 20- or 30-year anniversary. I hope I get the invite.”