McGrath: Sticking with the game-plan paid off

De La Salle manager Derek McGrath was a relieved man at the final whistle in Sixmilebridge, but he could also feel justified.

His side had just taken the spoils with a sensational last-minute goal because, as he said, they’d kept to the game plan.

“We’re just glad to be getting out of here with that, we’re delighted with the last goal in terms of how they worked it.

“I had a lot of fellas in my ear shouting at them to drive the ball in but they moved it along well, they applied the game plan in terms of holding the ball right to the very end.”

McGrath admitted their first-half wides tally was a cause of huge concern.

“I was, though the only thing about wides is that they can be a reflection of the amount of possession you have as well.

“The worry I’d have is that you’ve got to make the periods of dominance count when you have them. And we weren’t doing that.

McGrath was keen to pay tribute to the depth of his panel.

“Chris Sheehan came on as a sub and he wouldn’t have played at all last year, but he had a thesis to finish for college, and those things have to be done as well. We gave him the time off and he’s coming back into it now.

“You hear people say it’s a 20-man game and that’s probably true. You’re trying to weigh up lads who might be having a nightmare on the field and then there’s the physicality of the battle ... we had a couple of minors on the line we could have sprung, but we felt the physical challenges might have been too much for them.”

McGrath was hopeful Kevin Moran and Eoin Madigan would be fit for selection for the Munster final.

“Kevin picked up a bad dead leg in the first-half. He moved himself back to full-back then but he was majestic at centre-back in the second half.

“I read something Lar Corbett said in the Examiner during the week, that your mindset must change for games at this time of the year. It’s not a purist’s game, it’s about rucks and mauls, and it was dogged today, but we’ll take dogged all day if we win.”