Owens: We’re in fairytale territory

Kilcormac-Killoughey manager Danny Owens was, understandably enough, quick to pay tribute to his team yesterday.

Former Offaly star Owens was particularly keen to compliment his charges on their skill in the Kilkenny rain and mud, adding he was confident they’d be able to perform on final day.

“You mightn’t think it if you read the bookies, but we expected that (display). We’re hurling like that all year and the lads showed tremendous heart and huge determination – and a lot of skill.

“Oulart were 1/4 at one stage but odds mean nothing out there. Games are won on heart, soul and ability.

“If you don’t have ability you’ll win nothing, but when you have all that, when you have all the ingredients in one team it’s hard to beat them.

“So far so good – this is wonderful. It was a massive thrill to win a county title after 100 years, but we’re in fairytale territory at the moment. We couldn’t have asked for better.”

He agreed the early goal was vital: “That gave us a cushion. It was there all through. They brought it down to two points — very briefly, for only a minute — after that we kept that lead all the way through.”

The man who got the goal, Dan Currams, was singled out for his courage. “He got a bad cut in the centre of the forehead, about an inch and a half across,” said Owens. “We didn’t think he’d come out for the second half, to be honest, but he felt okay after a bit of a rest and he made a difference when he came back in.

“It’s been some year. You live for moments like this. It’s been an exceptional day, we’ll savour it and then we’ll get ready for another match.”

In the Oulart corner, manager Sean Herbert was philosophical.

“Obviously that early goal was a setback and it had us on the back foot for the rest of the game. We recovered from a poor start last week against Ballyhale but it didn’t repeat itself today.

“It was a cracking game of hurling and we have no qualms with the result whatsoever. After 60 minutes of hurling, they were the better team.”

Herbert felt an Oulart goal could have changed the game significantly.

“We were a little unfortunate. We could have got a goal, Gareth Sinnott struck a shot that came back off the goalie’s chest but that’s as close as we came.

“Had that gone in, anything could have happened. But overall, they seemed to be that bit hungrier. ”

Herbert acknowledged the ‘heartbreak’ of losing a third provincial final in-a-row. “It’s very disappointing after trying for so long. It’s the same batch of players and you can only go to the well so many times. Three years in-a-row and not to win it is heartbreaking.”