Proud Paul’s mixed emotions

PAUL CAFFREY reacted like any winning manager would after seeing his team win a tight game in dramatic fashion.

Except that in his case his joy in winning the Leinster championship at the first attempt was tinged with sadness immediately after the final whistle he sought out his wife Yvonne, whose mother had died on Saturday and for whom his personal success evoked mixed emotions.

Speaking to the media afterwards, he remarked that somebody had definitely been praying for his team! "We were cruising well in the first-half but we weren't putting scores on the board, that's something we'll try and work on. Laois were unlucky it wasn't a draw.

"They're a very good team, this was their third final in-a-row. It was very disappointing for them. They came with high aspirations,'' he said.

Caffrey felt that the game had been "too easy" in the first half, saying that they "couldn't have been happy" after so many scores had gone a-begging. While Laois came storming back, he never lost faith in his players.

"You always believed that the lads would weather the storm and get back into it and that's what they did. Once again, our team showed a good bit of heart. Their trademark is that they don't lie down," he added.

While regretting that his captain, Paddy Christie, had to come off injured, Caffrey said he had been particularly pleased by the way individual players adapted.

"A lot of our fellows were asked to do several different jobs and came out of it very well,'' he said, acknowledging the value of goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton's first-half save and the significant contribution of Jason Sherlock.

Most of all, he praised free-taker Tomas 'Mossie' Quinn for the two late scores which won them the title. "He had a mixed day at the office and it took a big man to stand over the last two kicks and score. But that's what he is a big man in our dressingroom and everyone was thrilled for him.

Captain Paddy Christie echoed these sentiments.

"You always hear people say that there are question marks over him, but today he made a massive contribution.

"You could cut that pressure with a knife and he came through with flying colours. Without getting carried away, he should get a lot of kudos.''

Christie, all the more pleased that Dublin's win gives him plenty of time to recover from the groin injury which forced him off after only 17 minutes, attributed their success to the work done by the players on the field.

"The whole management team put in Trojan work and they certainly deserve credit for the work off the pitch but on the pitch it's the players who do it,'' he said.

"Last year, unfortunately Tommy Lyons got a lot of stick. Really Pillar (Caffrey) would agree with it it's the players on the pitch. The manager can do nothing he can't kick a ball, or make a block. It's really very unfair in the modern game to be putting so much pressure on the manager.''

For him personally, watching the game unfold from the sideline was a totally new experience, one he wouldn't want to repeat for a long time. "Ever since I played my first championship game I finished in every one and it was the same in the National League. It was very tough looking on, I don't know how people do it. You see the 'simple' mistakes and it seems so obvious from the stand. But, out on the pitch, it's frenzied and things are happening all over the place at a hundred miles an hour.''

Caffrey said he hadn't been surprised by the reaction of the crowd afterwards, commenting: "Everyone talks about Dublin needing to win titles and Micko spoke about it in terms of it being 'great' for Dublin. But, we know that whoever is playing Dublin, wants to beat them. End of story. It's important that Dublin are competing every year. And I think this team is competing well.''

As for the immediate future, he says it will now be up to the management to push the bar a little bit higher. "The players will benefit from coming through a very tight game, but the next game will be a new challenge.

"We just hope they can grow a bit more and develop,'' he added.