‘I took a gamble, thank God it paid off’

When Jack McCarron ghosted inside the St. Brigid’s defence, time seemed to stand still.

Having rounded Conor Carroll, an empty net beckoned. All McCarron had to do was roll the ball beyond a frosted goalmouth, and the dynamic of this semi-final would have been turned on its head.

But, crucially, Seán Trundle hadn’t given up the ghost. Out of nowhere, the St. Brigid’s full-back appeared, and a miraculous block kept his side’s net intact and, more importantly, quenched notions of a Scotstown rebellion.

A microcosm of honest defending, Trundle’s straight-talking afterwards as he reflected on that jaw-dropping intervention was typical of the man — on this day, everyone had to take on their own responsibility.

“I had let him back inside me. It was my own fault to begin with, he got the backdoor cut on me. But I got back there, I knew he was going to turn on the left. I took a gamble, thank God it paid off.

“They pushed up on us in the last quarter and made it really difficult to transition, especially from kickouts, up to the forwards to get a score. They tried to pin us back in our own half. I thought that we dealt with it well. We had our backs to the wall a couple of times there in the second half but we got over the line.

“One of the things we have been working on is our in-game management. Earlier in the season, we might have been taking pot shots. But we’ve got better as a team, we’re on the same wavelength, the same mindset, the same page,” he explained.

With words of well-wishes and congratulations ringing in his ears, St. Brigid’s manager Anthony Cunningham felt that, for the most part, his side were on control of their own destiny.

“Scotstown are a top class side. I thought that we controlled the game quite well. We got some great scores. Maybe, in the second half, we let them in and we’d be a bit disappointed with that. But the boys fought hard, their workrate was savage.

“It was going to be that type of game, where defences might be on top. We knew that there would be turnovers and that we’d have to work very hard defensively, particularly our forwards when they had to get back and work really hard.

“But we’re delighted. We still have a lot to work on. The blocks were tremendous but we’ll be working on a few things we missed today,” he vowed.

Meanwhile, after producing another eyecatching display, joint-captain Paul McGrath was soaking in the scene of green and red that invaded Kingspan Breffni after Brendan Cawley’s final whistle.

“This is what it’s all about — looking around here and seeing all the smiles on people’s faces. It’s all about the community, doing it for them and doing it for all the lads that are training and have been putting their lives on hold.

“It’s always hard to sacrifice things over Christmas. When you have these nuggets at the end of it — to be able to come out here and put on that type of performance for everyone — it’s just class.” 

McGrath also revealed that there was a big focus defensively over the last few weeks to make Scotstown earn any two-pointers they snaffled.

“We didn’t want to give them on a plate to (Rory) Beggan because he’ll put them over every day of the week. Seán Trundle epitomised that today, he came out with a load of turnovers.

“A different person stands up every single week. On any given week, someone is going unbelievable in training, and the next week someone else is flying it. We have a serious squad of players. It’s just a pleasure to train with them.

“We had a meeting last January about what we wanted to do this year. We didn’t want to be back in that meeting room again, wondering what might have been. It’s just a testament to the work put in by the players and management team that we’re back in the final,” he concluded.