Brennan on track to skipper St Vincent’s on final day

St Vincent’s manager Tommy Conroy expects to have captain Ger Brennan leading the team out in Croke Park on St Patrick’s Day.

Brennan missed Saturday’s All-Ireland club semi-final after having minor clear-out surgery on a hip injury following their Leinster championship success in December.

However, Conroy hinted that Brennan and Rory Trainor could have been used if needed, and is confident they will be ready for the final against Castlebar.

“We could have brought him and Rory Trainor on,” he revealed. “We might not have got an hour out of him [Brennan] but we certainly could have played him.

“It’s great to have them now and they have to fight to get back in there which is another plus for us as well. Fitness wise, they will be grand. There will be no issue on that front.”

Conroy insisted Castlebar’s victory over Dr Crokes in the other semi-final was of no surprise to him.

“I know a couple of the guys in that team because I worked with them at DCU,” he said.

“The likes of Daniel Kirby is an outstanding player. I am genuinely not surprised. I think there was too much emphasis on Dr Crokes and that probably spurred them on.”

Ballinderry manager Martin McKinless admitted that taking a two-week break after their All-Ireland quarter-final win over Kingdom Kerry Gaels in December may have been a mistake as they were very slow out of the traps.

“Obviously in the long turnaround, they improved more than we did. We took a couple of weeks of a break and maybe we were too slack. We were second to the ball in a lot of positions and they were that bit stronger on the ball when they had it.

“If you do the thing a second time you try and do it a bit better but look, it’s hard to know. If we had won, we would have said it [break] was the right thing.”