Beirne hails St. Dominic's players in reaching first senior hurling final in 23 years

Martin ‘Thady’ Beirne is one of the good guys. He has been in the trenches long enough with St. Dominic’s to appreciate how significant Sunday’s eight-point victory against Athleague in what was a tough week for the Knockcroghery-based club.

They say that good things come to those who wait, and St. Dominic’s have been waiting a long time for a moment like this. And yet it wasn’t a bolt from the blue. The signs all year pointed to St. Dominic’s emerging from the chasing pack to challenge Four Roads. Now they’ll get their opportunity to test the defending champions in local hurling’s showpiece at the end of the month.

“We’ve been playing good hurling all year. We started back on February 24th. The plan was to make a semi-final. Everything else was a bonus.

“I suppose we had the form. It’s a long time since the local media were tipping us to win a county semi-final. So it’s just savage for the lads.

“I’ve been saying it all year — it’s all about the players. We brought Joe Keane in from Portumna who has done a massive job. But if you haven’t the players, there’s no point having someone like Joe Keane around the place. We have 24 or 25 lads training every night. Every lad is putting his shoulder to the wheel. It’s massive, just serious for the club,” he reflected.

On September 28th, St. Dominic’s will appear in just the club’s eighth senior hurling final, and their first since 2001. So what has shifted the narrative this season?

“I’m sick of listening to people saying that there are no hurlers in Dominic’s. We've always had good hurlers. I don’t what it was, maybe it was buy-in over the years. But we brought seven minors onto the panel this year. One of them started today and two more of them came on. Ruairi Kilcline scored a lovely point. Maybe we just freshened it up, I don’t know.

“But you still have Micheál (Byrne), Naos (Connaughton), Mark (Miley), Connell (Kennelly) — those boys have been soldering for years, even when things weren’t going well and you’d be looking out the gate hoping you’d have 15 to play a game.

“Nowadays, I can put up on the group text that we’re playing a challenge game on Tuesday evening, and I don’t even have to look for a thumbs up. I know that 22 or 23 lads are going to turn up, which is massive.” Yet Beirne agreed that Dominic’s were swimming in uncharted territory last Sunday.

“The form was with us but Athleague, given their experience, were the favourites. Outside of Naos, it was a first semi-final for our lads. That’s why it took us ten minutes to settle. But once we did, we knew that we’d play better in the second half.

“In the first half, with the breeze, the ball was travelling a little too long. So we knew that once we pulled out the half-forward line, there would be plenty of space for the boys inside to play to their strengths. We used 20 lads today, and they all made an impact.

“The likes of Jack Lohan and Mickey Joe Egan were quiet, but they came into it late on. Nathan O’Connor stood up, as did Connell Kennelly — that’s his first start with us this year. He was close to being Man of the Match,” highlighted Beirne.

Speaking of Man of the Match, look no further than Naos Connaughton and his personal tally of 4-5. The “bear on the square” had been poked.

“Naos has played a lot of his hurling out at 11 or 12, winning a lot of ball. But he’s winning ball with three or four lads around him. You put him in on the edge of the square and he’s a threat. No one will handle him. Dec Leonard of Oran was the only one to handle him this year, and he’s a long time on the go.

“You get the ball to Naos, and he can throw it out or take his own score. He’s not selfish, he plays for the team and he’s a serious clubman. He had his knockers when he was with the county that he wasn’t able to this or that he wasn’t able to do that. I’m a long time soldering with Naos and I know that he’s a serious bit of stuff. He’s a danger and teams hate that. The bear on the square — you can’t beat it.

“We haven’t experienced this in 23 years. People are curious about how we’re doing, coming up watching us training. The interest is going to increase even more now. You see the crowd here today. I don’t mind saying it but St. Dominic’s are the best-supported club in the county. They’ll get behind us and give us everything we need.

“It has been a tough week, poor Ollie Hanley passed away. We’re all going to the removal of Mike Feeley’s grandfather this evening (Sunday). That performance was the best way to honour Ollie Hanley — to go out and win that game for him and his family,” he concluded.