Veteran Daly finally gets his just reward

HE has accumulated plenty honours at divisional and county level but it has taken 26 championship seasons before Joe Daly has realised that dream in the provincial arena.

On Sunday afternoon he was part of the Milltown-Castlemaine squad toasting their triumph in the Munster Club IFC final against Mullinahone and it was a success that the 40 year-old goalkeeper was entitled to savour. Daly has been featuring for the Mid Kerry side’s adult football teams since he was 15 years of age and the man that team manager John Fintan Daly has lavished praise on for his role in this team, relished this feat.

“I’m playing a fair while now alright,” laughed Daly. “But to win a Munster title with your club is amazing. It’s the best thing you can do really, especially at my age. We were up eight points at half-time but they fought back in the second-half and got a run at us. Once we settled in the second quarter we got going and Jerome Flynn’s goal in the second-half was key.”

Milltown/Castlemaine have had to endure anxious afternoons before. None more so than their meeting with Clondegad at the provincial quarter-final stage. Despite having home advantage for that game, Milltown/Castlemaine found themselves trailing during the closing stages against a determined Clare side. Ultimately they prevailed and were immensely grateful to the contribution of Daly who produced a wonderful first-half penalty save.

“That game against Clondegad was the biggest scare of all this year,” says Daly. “People thought we took them for granted but we didn’t, they were just a very good side. I think people thought since Mullinahone were predominantly hurling that they’d be handy for us on Sunday. But they were far from handy. It was a tough game and the scoreline doesn’t reflect that.”

Milltown/Castlemaine felt the pressure to perform last Sunday. Located in the middle of the county, they have been perfectly positioned in recent years to observe clubs around Kerry shining at this grade. Ardfert in the north set the ball rolling in 2006, their western counterparts Annascaul maintained the run in 2007, St Michael’s-Foilmore to the south claimed honours in 2008 while the last two years has seen eastern outfits Spa and Gneeveguilla emerge victorious. That record weighed on the minds of the Milltown/Castlemaine players in recent weeks and there was a sense after they won their county decider against Waterville, that they had a duty to keep progressing.

“We’re following all of those clubs that have won it and it’d be a shame if they did it but we failed. Hopefully this isn’t the end of it. We’re looking forward to the All-Ireland series.”