No mixed emotions for South Kerry boss

NO mixed emotions for former Dr Crokes star John Galvin in Killarney yesterday, just immense satisfaction his South Kerry team had shown outstanding character to win the Kerry football championship.

Galvin, whose father was born in Sneem, took charge of the southern amalgamation earlier this year. He insisted: “When I took on the job six months ago I made up my mind that it wasn’t going to be an issue if we met the Crokes. I had to detach myself from that.

“Where would I be today if I was half in one camp and half in the other? I’m fully South Kerry at the moment. I am proud of my roots, but I’m a Killarney man as well.’’

The game was decided by a late, late fisted point by former All-Ireland winning skipper Declan O’Sullivan who showed tremendous resolve in bouncing back from an earlier goal miss.

He recalled: “I just wanted to make sure of it and to get a fist to it. I suppose the goal miss could have played on my mind, but there is great resolve in this team. I knew fellows wouldn’t give in. There is great honesty in the group. Things were going against us for a while but we battled hard and we did the simple things. A couple of the young fellows who came in made a huge impression – they carried ball and won frees for us. People say we are like a club team, but we ‘are’ a club team. We have been through a lot of ups and downs, but it has been a very special journey. This group deserves everything they get.’’

County colleague Killian Young felt the game ‘was always going to go down to the wire,’ adding: “It was going to come down to leaders in the last five minutes and the big men step up to the plate when you need them.

“And, in fairness Declan did that. We showed we are not just a nice team that plays well on dry days. We can mix it both ways.’’

Midfielder John Sugrue agreed it was a day for ‘grinding’ out a result, attributing their success to the fact that they ‘dug in deep.’ He said: “It was a great sign of the guys and the spirit in this team. Crokes did get a run on us for a while, but teams have got runs on us all through this campaign. St Michael’s Foilmore took an early lead, Austin Stacks did the same and we dug deep. In the second half there were big questions asked and we answered them.’’

Bryan Sheehan expressed delight at winning another medal, agreeing that it meant all the more to him having lost his starting place in Jack O’Connor’s team.

“After the year I had with Kerry I was eager, fresh and hungry for football. This county championship was my All-Ireland,’’ he stated.