‘The way we won is as sweet as any of the other victories’

Forget the destination, it was the journey that thrilled Kevin O’Brien.

This was a game set up on one simple premise: could Corofin go where no hurling or football club side had ever gone before and claim a hat-trick of All-Ireland titles? Everything else was deemed all but superfluous to that one, overarching and historic poser.

O’Brien felt differently. Few teams at any level have garnered as much love for their style of play as his Corofin outfit but there was a sense after this gritty and at times ill-tempered affair that the champions were perfectly happy to have had the chance to show their claws.

“What we have achieved is probably fantastic, but the lads showed great character out there,” said the Corofin boss.

“The way we won that final is as sweet as any of the other victories we had over the last two years. The lads showed — and a lot of the lads in Galway know this — that they can grind out results no matter what way you try to play against us.

“I think that is fantastic. I’ve probably said this (before), our panel has been key. The lads coming in were absolutely fantastic. I knew going into extra-time that we had that panel and they had that experience. It told and full credit to them all, I hope they get their rewards for it now.”

He struggled to sum up what it all meant and why wouldn’t he? O’Brien spoke about the club and the schools and the families who support them. He spoke too about what this could mean for the community and for the county of Galway as it embarks on its own season under new management.

There was a special mention for the daddy of the group, the 39 years young full-back Kieran Fitzgerald who at one point was the furthest man forward when Corofin had 15 men behind the ball. Fitzgerald, he said, was just one among many baring their bodies and souls out there.

“That’s the effort the lads put in, they just train all the time. They’re a great bunch. They’re self-managing. My job is easy enough. I’m probably fortunate as well to have a great management team around me, anything I need to do is done.

“We really focus on the family and the support of people around us and we needed that support this week more than any other week. But it’s fantastic, I’m sure we’ll think about it a bit more over the next few days. Listen, it’s great.”

Kilcoo left torn between pride and regret. There were chances missed, three alone in the dying minutes of normal time when Corofin were on the ropes, that might have written a different narrative, but there was a feeling too that they had divested of themselves everything they had.

Selector Conleth Gilligan suggested that playing for over 35 minutes of normal time with 14 men was something that caught up with them in the end but it may be that the search for solace stretches deep into this calendar year for them.

“So completely devastated in there, as the boys are, just because they put so much of themselves into it,” Gilligan said. “It is a fine line between winning and losing but when the final whistle goes if you are on the other end of defeat then it is a million miles of a difference in the game.”