Ambitious Reidy has designs on All-Ireland for charges

No sooner had Martin Burke hoisted the Munster trophy, but manager PJ Reidy was plotting an All-Ireland assault.

With the defeat of 2007 finally atoned for, the Keel boss swore provincial honours would not represent the height of their ambitions.

“We will push it on another notch, we will take it on to another level for the All-Ireland semi-final,” said Reidy.

“We will do our homework on Fuerty during the week and we will see what they have. We will be eager to get to Croke Park and that All-Ireland final. The boys wanted to right the wrongs here in Mallow. It is a monkey off the back.

“These guys have been waiting for this for five or six years. They really deserved it. You don’t win Munsters every day of the week. They will enjoy tonight and it will be back to basics then again on Thursday night. We will look forward to the semi-final in January.”

Keel’s forward power proved the cornerstone of their success, in particular the sterling efforts of Liam Sheehan and Gary Sayers, but Reidy was keen to pay homage to his side’s defensive effort. Feohanagh/Castlemahon were limited to a paltry four points over the hour, one better than that of Mitchelstown and Mount Sion – frugality at its finest.

“Our defence all year has been phenomenal. At training our forwards were getting frustrated. I told them they were getting frustrated because the backs were keeping them scoreless. They would give out to one another but that is because our backs are phenomenal. They conceded two points from play here and that says it all really. The whole team performance was outstanding.

“We knew if we were going to mix it physically with them we weren’t going to win it. We said we would move the ball fast, move the ball down the flanks and that is what we did. We tried to keep the centre as free as possible and that is what we did.

“We were bringing the ball into cul de Sacs in the first-half, but that is a deceiving wind out there. The boys spoke about it at half-time. We said we would work it into more scoreable areas in the second-half and thankfully we put a few more scores on the board to see us home.”