Brian Stack’s defensive prowess at the heart of St Brigid’s success

Brian Derwin leaps onto Seán Trundle's shoulders while other St. Brigid's players converge.

In the middle of Dr Hyde Park as his team embraced all around him, Jerome Stack was lobbed the sort of softball reserved for final-winning managers. A Chance to give praise. Brian Stack, discuss: His answer duly delivered. The defender is quality. All-Star quality.

The Kerry native was measured and considerate. “Look, you can only give out so many All-Stars in the year and I absolutely understand that and how far your team goes in the championship,” he accepted, “but Brian Stack is an immense footballer.” Consider his case and Stack’s intercounty championship: Ryan O’Donoghue (scoreless from play), Shane Walsh (scoreless from play), Con O’Callaghan (0-2), Niall Murphy (0-1 from play), Darragh Kirwan (0-1 mark), Stephen Sherlock (0-2 from play). Every single day he was given a thankless task and sent to the opposition’s danger man. Every day he delivered.

On Sunday it was more of the same. Stack was immense as St Brigid’s overpowered Corofin to secure the McGettigan Cup and a spot in the All-Ireland semi-final. He contained Gary Sice, Corofin’s leading forward this year, limiting him to a point from play while clipping a score himself.

Here is the thing. These sorts of elementary numbers only tell part of the story. Gaelic football is now at a velocity where it demands you look beyond the accessories and see what is happening under the bonnet. For example, a cursory glance at this game suggests one where man of the match Ben O’Carroll, scorer of 1-7, comprehensively outplayed his direct marker Liam Silke.

Did that decide the contest? O’Carroll scored 1-4 from frees and a penalty. He was fouled twice by Silke and scored a free from one. At the same time, the livewire attacker missed with his first three shots at the post, one of which resulted in a score after it dropped short and bounced over. His second point came after a counterattack and at that point, Conor Cunningham was his marker. He beat Ross Mahon to a long delivery for his third from play and sliced a shot over Silke’s stretching arms.

Silke also scored a goal after beating O’Carroll to the ball out in front and being fouled. O’Carroll’s unerring accuracy from frees was crucial but that matchup was not pivotal.

The difference on Sunday was St Brigid’s superior ability to stifle Corofin attacks and turn them into opportunities. It was a magnificent defence that set the platform for their offence. At the heart of that was Stack.

He finished with 17 possessions, one score, one assist, four kickpasses, no turnovers and was fouled twice. Again, that only scratches the surface. Eccentric analysts will later scramble back to dark rooms and discover his remarkable record when it comes to defensive metrics like breaches, but such intricate data points generally reserved for management only. Maybe that is for the best.

The Roscommon champions led 1-6 to 1-2 at half-time. Corofin had two more phases in that opening half but couldn’t get through a green and red wall. All six points came from a turnover. The penalty was the result of a long Bernard Power kickout that was broken and claimed by a ravenous Eddie Nolan. Corofin to their credit strived to move the ball quickly and feed their inside line. When they did Stack soared and broke the ball over Sice or Ruaidhri Fallon caught it clean or Robbie Dolan won it out in front and then they flooded forward.

They didn’t just stop the Galway kingpin’s greatest weapon. They used it against them.

“I had a lot of confidence in myself, Pearse (Frost) and Robbie (Dolan) to win our battles inside,” Stack said post-match. “I mean we weren’t going out to play 15 on 15 and got a number back but the lads trust us to do our job, but they combine to put pressure on the ball. That is the winning formula for us, especially against Corofin.” Back to his manager’s praise. The reason Stack is less likely than his deserving team-mate Enda Smith to win an All-Star is because defending is different. It doesn’t always stand out. Those second half bursts for a point and to create Ciaran Sugrue’s score were the only significant highlights. Stack’s contribution was a series of shoulders to halt oncoming runners and dives to secure breaking ball. It’s a twinkled-toe shimmy to cut off an overlap and a quick-thinking burst to form an impenetrable swarm tackle.

He is a key cog in a collective, one that is still firing when the clock is deep in the red and Corofin as peppering the goal late on. Out he raced as a long free broke for Conor Newell. That pressure forced him wide, Nolan followed up to make the block and Stack came again with a timely boot to clear the danger. Determined to make his dream a reality.

Later he stood on the field and accepted congratulations from Karol Mannion and others who secured the club’s last Connacht title over ten years ago. That group went on to win an All-Ireland.

“I’m 26 now,” he explained. “I was in the stand (in 2012), probably jealous, to be honest. Delighted but jealous. My brother was playing so it was obviously a big day for the family. But I was jealous, I wanted that success, and I’m just delighted to be here now.”