Wade gleans positives from semi-final slog

Despite an underwhelming semi-final triumph, Four Roads manager Kerril Wade was keen to eschew the positives following Sunday's 1-12 to 1-11 victory against Roscommon Gaels.

Their opponents in the final on Sunday fortnight, St. Dominic’s, won’t be trembling with fear after this performance from the Tisrara-based outfit as they struggled to kill off a team that entered the fray as firm underdogs.

However, Wade was content that Four Roads did enough to reach their 58th county final.

“It was a tough game. We knew it was going to be tough coming in here. They are a real physical side, and they have really good hurlers. The field was tight as well and both sides had to deal with a tricky wind out there.

“But we are delighted to be back in a county final. That is where we want to be. That was our aim at the start of the year. Get back to a county final and we are there now at the end of the month. Our attention turns to that straight away,” the Sarsfields man noted.

Despite having no competitive fixture for six weeks, Four Roads started the contest the better of the two sides before they became embroiled in an attritional battle.

The defending champions were grateful for the five-point advantage they built up after the first quarter. Wade admitted that the level of performance will need to be far more consistent in the final than what they showed last Sunday.

“We got the good start. That was our aim all week. Come and test Roscommon Gaels. It was a county semi-final so we wanted to see had they any nerves and could we take advantage of that? Our lads hit the ground running.

“Experience and youth blended in lovely, and we got off to a great start. We were slow to get into it in the second half, so we will have to work on that but when we did, we put some great scores together. We have a lot to work on but that will make training interesting on Wednesday evening,” Wade explained.

Despite the general acceptance that Four Roads will need to rise up a few levels if they are to defeat a resurgent St. Dominic’s outfit, Wade was content that his defence held out. Roscommon Gaels may have helped by firing 15 wides but despite lacking cohesion in attack at times, Four Roads’ defence, guided by team captain Conor Coyle and the rock solid Darren Fallon, laid the platform for Sunday’s victory.

The former All-Ireland-winning minor player felt that the defensive showing was the biggest positive for his charges to take ahead of the decider.

“We are very happy with our defence. They were very solid. Our forwards are our first line of defence. Our defending starts up there because we don’t want any easy ball coming out.

“We don’t want opposition backs hitting ball up there unchallenged because that will put so much pressure on our backs. It starts with our forwards and then our backs help them out. I’m very happy with how we defended as a team,” he remarked.

The Four Roads manager is looking forward to the rematch with St. Dominic’s. The sides drew 0-20 to 4-8 in the opening round of the group stages. Since then, they have been, it appears, on a collision course.

“We played them here at the end of June in the group so it is 50/50 again. Nobody has an advantage from that game so it will be all on the day. It will be who gets the luck and the breaks.

“We are really looking forward to it now, just as they are. There was a great crowd here today, which makes a great atmosphere. Four clubs going hard at it which will only help the county team and drive hurling on in Roscommon,” he concluded.