Paul O'Keeffe: 'We don't do it the easy way in the Barrs'

16 January 2022; Sam Ryan of St Finbarr's in action against Michael O'Donnell of Austin Stacks during the AIB Munster GAA Football Senior Club Championship Final match between Austin Stacks and St Finbarr's at Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

St Finbarr’s manager Paul O’Keeffe was a man in demand at the final whistle - mostly from delirious Blues fans, delighted with their side’s Munster club win over Austin Stacks.

When the handshakes finished, O’Keeffe addressed the matter of the game itself.

“I don’t think I can put it in words,” he said.

“We don’t do it the easy way. We knew coming up that Stacks were going to give us a ferocious test, but we were confident enough. We’ve been going well in training and as I’ve said all along, they’re a great bunch of lads.

“They’re really driven, really committed to it. That’s probably something that’s hard to put into words - maybe I could describe it better in a couple of days’ time!

“But it’s out of this world, it’s brilliant to have won it.” 

Particularly given the Blues’ third quarter. They were coasting at half-time, six points up, only for Austin Stacks to hit five points on the trot to cut the lead to the bare minimum.

"No surprise," said O’Keeffe.

“We always do it. I went in at half-time and said we had to drive on - and of course we didn’t, we had that kind of pause where we let the opposition back into the game.

“I’d say the day we play for four quarters will be a miracle. We had a chance of a point at the very start of the second half but we missed, that could have been vital because it would have given us the start we needed in the third quarter.

“But then that’s how we play. In adversity we seem to come to the fore and battle away, and we got there in the end. It was amazing stuff.” 

One of their key men was Brian Hayes - a doubt all week, he was central to the Barrs’ opening goal and chipped in with three points from play as well.

“We knew he was going well with his rehab,” said O’Keeffe.

“But there’s a huge difference between someone going well with their rehab and going well in a big match, being match-fit.

“It was genuinely touch and go as to whether he’d be able to play but he got through it well. When he went down in the first half with his knee I was worried, it was a scare, but he had a great game, fair play to him.

“We knew his height in around the edge of the square could be vital early on, and that’s how it turned out.” 

At the other end of the experience spectrum, long-serving Michael Shields won the vital late free to make the game safe.

“Michael has so much big-match experience that it’s frightening, he was the ideal man to have there.” 

And the fuss about a venue which popped up the week before last?

“That was always a non-story from our point of view. You can see the atmosphere here today, it’s a fantastic venue and it’s been a great day. And what Austin Stacks brought to that was huge as well.”