Loss of key pair ‘galvanised’ us, says Finuge boss
“When Paul was sent off against Pallasgreen we met that night and being the man he is, he said, ‘we won’t appeal; there’ll be no side-show, just get on with it’. Then Eamonn had a word with them Friday night and he just told them to drive on without himself and Paul. That’s exactly what they did.”
Delighted with the way his team stuck at it from the start, he added: “We laid down a marker. We kicked seven wides in the first-half which was disappointing and while the two frees St Vincent’s got in the last five minutes brought them back into it, prior to that we fairly dominated the first- half.
“I thought our defence was absolutely magnificent from start to finish. We were very disciplined.”
Meanwhile, new Kerry boss Fitzmaurice’s career will be extended.
“It’s a great problem to have,” he said. “It gives myself and Paul an opportunity in January. We’ll have a busy month, but that’s fine as well!”
For St Vincent’s coach Keith Ricken, the sense of disappointment for his players was eased by the progress made.
“It’s been a long year. I’m very proud of the lads. We set out our stall to consolidate ourselves in intermediate football and take every game as it came. We did that, and as we grew in confidence we grew in panel size and grew in footballingability.” Believing that their failure to make an impact in the first-half represented the losing of the game, he commented: “Finuge showed great fighting spirit, but it is hard to know that you are probably as good as the team that beat you!”
* Three-time All-Ireland winner Liam Hassett, who made 42 championship appearances for Kerry between 1995 and 2005 scoring 4-37, played his last game for his club Laune Rangers yesterday. He announced his retirement after they lost their second Mid Kerry championship final in a row, to Milltown/Castlemaine.
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