Cunningham cements his greatness in Brigid’s fabled story

Anthony Cunningham does like a dramatic finish.

And while Ruaidhrí Fallon’s 57th minute strike didn’t quite reach the dramatic heights of Karol Mannion’s stunning injury-time effort against Corofin 19 years earlier, its resonance was no less impactful.

St. Brigid’s maiden provincial success in 2006, with Cunningham steering the ship, allowed the club to put down a marker in the sand. Five Connacht titles later, an evolving success story has plenty more chapters to pen.

But this is the point — Anthony Cunningham’s legacy as a great manager has been literally transported into his own living room.

Among the people that have adopted the former Galway hurler as one of their own, a second Connacht club title — and third provincial title overall after Garrycastle’s success in 2011 — means that history will look very kindly on his contribution irrespective if St. Brigid’s go on and bring the Andy Merrigan Cup back to Kiltoom for the second time in the club’s history.

Cunningham is such an amiable character — a grafter, just like he was on the hurling fields he graced all over Ireland in the maroon and white.

His second coming as St. Brigid’s manager was confirmed only a few weeks after Jerome Stack stepped down in the aftermath of the All-Ireland final defeat against Glen in January 2024. It was obvious that Brigid’s minds were concise and clear in terms of what the club wanted.

They say you should never go back a second time, but Cunningham, despite being under immense pressure to deliver silverware, has surrounded himself with solid people and made it work.

When Pádraig Pearses edged out the then reigning county champions in last year’s quarter-final, the knives weren’t exactly being sharpened around Kiltoom. But it’s fair to deduce that people had their doubts about Cunningham’s ability to deliver at this stage of such a distinguished managerial career that has been defined, for the most part, by success wherever he has travelled.

On Sunday, those doubters — by virtue of St. Brigid’s grinding out a victory over a terrific Maigh Cuilinn team — were silenced.

People will say that Cunningham has the players to make it work. But ask Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, about fitting quality into a system that best suits a team.

Gaelic football’s new rules have been parachuted in, but the St. Brigid’s manager has trusted his players to rely on their natural skill and footballing intelligence to get the job done.

Only Castlerea St. Kevin’s kicked fewer two-pointers in the Roscommon championship. On Sunday, Brigid’s were wiped out at midfield — usually a recipe for disaster in the modern game. But they still found a way to win against one of the most physically imposing sides they had ever come across.

It was the sort of wholesome victory that, deep inside, would have left the manager dancing jigs of delight.

Nineteen years ago, players like Mannion, Mark O’Carroll and Frankie Dolan took Cunningham to their hearts. Now, a new crop of St. Brigid’s heroes like Brian Stack, Conor Hand and Ben O’Carroll are doing the same.

It says everything about the man’s way with players who will run through a brick wall for him.

To beat an excellent Pádraig Pearses team, the Mayo champions and now Galway’s kingpins on their way to provincial glory means that Brigid’s are road-tested ahead of an All-Ireland semi-final against Kilcoo or Scotstown on the first weekend of January.

With momentum very firmly in their sails, allied with Anthony Cunningham’s proven track record as a manager, anything is possible for this talented and grounded group of players.