Queally thoughts turn to tragic Bolgers

Passage manager Peter Queally was swift to pay tribute to the Bolger brothers from the little Waterford village at the end of yesterday’s dramatic county SHC final.

The Bolgers were lost at sea last April, a devastating blow to the locality, and they were remembered yesterday in Walsh Park.

“It’s something we never spoke about,” said an emotional Queally.

“Playing a championship game is no place for emotion.

“But it was always there in the background. Silently there. It’s something that will be spoken about in the press over the next couple of days, the tragedy we had earlier in the year.

“We spoke about it at our first night back training, and it was a very emotional night.

“We said we wouldn’t mention it again, but every time we went into a huddle and there was silence, we’d think about the three brothers who lost their lives. We wanted to honour that. We wanted to honour their passing.

“In 20 years’ time the year 2013 will be remembered for two things — the Bolgers’ tragic loss and the first time Passage won the senior hurling.

“That association will always be there because of this bunch of fellas.”

The sheer joy of winning a first county senior title was evident in the crowd swirling around Queally.

“It’s hard to put it into words, you only have to look around and you’ll see the scenes, people with tears in their eyes. Words won’t describe this, the people all around in red and white tops, the looks on their faces...”

Queally admitted his team had been well prepared physically, but pointed out the victory had involved more than that.

“This isn’t about fitness. This is about character. They’ve shown that all year — in the quarter-final, the semi-final, and today in the final.

“These are unbelievable players, and they didn’t come back to win just through character alone.

“They’re good hurlers, all of them. All over the field they hurled well, and when we were saying to ourselves, ‘we need to freshen things up and bring someone on’, our next question was, who do we take off? They were all hurling well. ”

Queally always felt there was a kick in his side.

“A neutral might have thought it was slipping away, but we never looked like panicking,” he added.

“The lads kept plugging away, and kept putting the frees over, not dropping them in.

“We knew if we could get one goal, that we had the character to drive on; we always felt we could get going.”

And now for the Munster club championship?

“It’s unbelievable to be even thinking about it,” laughed the manager. “Ask me about it next week!”