Jubilant Padjoe stands tall after touchline ban

THE end justified the means, but Birr manager Padjoe Whelahan was still a little miffed by the manner in which he had to lead his charges to another All-Ireland club title and a place in the record books.

Being forced to watch from the stands as his team took the field in the biggest game of their season was cruel and utterly unfair, the genial Padjoe admitted in the aftermath of one of his greatest triumphs.

"It wasn't nice. It should never happen to any manager, put in the stand for All-Ireland final day; you're training a team there all the year, three nights a week sent to the stand, it's not right."

Whelahan, a bundle of nervous energy as he patrols the sidelines, was suspended for repeated field incursions during the semi-final win over Athenry, but justifiably claims that on no occasion did he interfere with play, nor was he warned by either the linesman or referee on the day in question.

"The referee was in Birr during the week, and he said he saw me twice during the whole game, that was all. They were wrong up here to give me that suspension, I don't care."

It certainly does appear to be an official over-reaction, one which could have had serious implications n a closer game if the manager needed to communicate directly with his team.

In the event however, Birr were never in serious trouble, though the irrepressible Padjoe was up and down from his seat in the stand like a Jack-in-the-box throughout, passing messages through Finbarr Spain, one of his trusted aides.

"Well you know my form," he grinned. "I'll probably get another ban for that now!"

Also sporting a wide grin, under a bloodied head bandage ("good for the sympathy vote in Birr tonight!"), was the midfield dynamo Barry Whelahan, who summed up the mood in the Birr dressing-room with polished ease.

"It's great. The four-in-a-row is brilliant. They were tough at the start of the match, very good in the first half, start of the second, but when we got a bit ahead, they died a bit."

Goal-scoring hero Declan Pilkington stood alongside, soaking in the congratulations. Now in his 30s but hurling as well as ever, there's no temptation to take that form back to the inter-county stage, even after this taste of Croke Park.

"No, no, no I'm trying to get out of hurling!" he laughs. "Padjoe won't let me go at this stage I'd say, but the hunger is unreal in this team. I suppose the bottom line is that we love the game of hurling.

"It's great for us, four All-Ireland club titles, but we're a great team you know. I'll hardly retire now. I'll have to come back for more."

Just inside the door sat team captain and man-of-the-match Gary Hanniffy, cosying up to Tommy Moore, shiny symbol of their All-Ireland champion status.

"It's sweet, sweet to be back," he said. "Last year, having won the All-Ireland, our big motivation was to try and come back and win four.

"We tried to keep that out of our heads during the week, you have to focus on the game in hand. But it was a great motivation to come back and win four and go top of the table as the only club in hurling on four All-Irelands. It's a sweet feeling to reach that goal."

But the path to that same goal led to bitter disappointment for Dunloy, particularly for centre-forward Gregory O'Kane, who admitted that they simply never got going.

"We just couldn't get into the game at all. I don't like to criticise anyone but I don't think the referee had one of his better games. I'm not saying that cost us the game, but we were in good position a couple of times in the first half, got called back for fouls who knows, we might have got a couple of goals.

"Birr are a good side, a first-class side, their record speaks for itself. Four All-Ireland titles, they are the best team in the history of the club championship, and they showed that today.

"They are a solid unit, know each other so well, play it about and are very hard to crack. It was out of our reach all the time, "It's a defeat, we'll go home, lick our wounds, see what happens after that."