GAA: Comerford says victory ranks amongst greatest of days

MARTIN COMERFORD has enjoyed many glorious days of hurling, days which have garnered him championship medals and Allstars in the service of Kilkenny.

But yesterday's achievement of capturing the AIB Leinster club championship crown may yet rank amongst the greatest of all such days.

"It's a great day for O'Loughlin Gaels and myself personally, because you're playing with your friends, your family and all the people you grow up with," he said.

And the Comerford family had an integral role to play. Big brother Andy skippered the side while the middle man of the clan, Jimmy, was a key man according to his younger sibling.

"Rory Hanniffy caused us a lot of bother in the first half, but putting Jimmy out worked very well for us. He'd be known as a good man-marker and he did a very good job," he added.

"We were poor in the first half. We felt that Birr would throw the kitchen sink at us, but we held out. We got a rollicking at half-time but we got a good start to the second half and it took

"Birr a long time to get a score on the board. We felt we were on the road when they started going for goals near the end. We kept on digging in and tacking on the points."

Selector Michael Nolan admitted that he wasn't worried going in at half-time, commenting: "We didn't think we were in real trouble.

"They had played us off the field but hadn't put it on the board. We felt we were in with a great chance if we came out and got the first couple of scores which we did. And after that we kept going for the full half-hour.

"We had a nervous start, it took us a long time to get going. Still, we could have been four or five more points down at half time. The fact that we weren't gave us a lot hope because Birr hadn't nailed us."

The sentiments were echoed by skipper Andy Comerford who felt that the game began in earnest after the break.

"We said at half time that it was a new match," the midfielder said. "We just tore into them. What I said to them was to keep hitting the ball, keep going for the scores and they would come. Our striking rate went up about 80%!"

And again he reserved special praise for the work of his younger brother and his man marking talents.

"Jimmy had a magnificent game. Rory Hanniffy was doing damage but when he came out he nullified him and he got on to the breaks. And that's what you have to do against a team like Birr, when you are playing at this level of competition."

Interestingly Birr boss Pat Joe Whelahan wasn't worried either at half-time and still believed that his team had a chance of retaining their title. His only concern was the challenge that the replacement players faced.

"We brought in a few players who were playing intermediate and this was a big stage for them. It worked against Castletown in the semi-final, but they weren't a good team this year.

"We played well in the first half. O'Loughlin's got one or two points which were hotly disputed, so we could have been further in front at half-time.

"But, there was no answer to the second half. They were the stronger team. Barry (Whelahan), Simon (Whelahan), Paul Molloy and Liam Power were fierce losses. We tried Barry but he wasn't able for it.

"But, we're not ashamed of anything. We are a great Birr team, a fabulous team. We did great things for Offaly hurling, for Leinster hurling.

"We'll see what the future holds. We might have a crack at winning six-in-a-row in Offaly next year."