Paul McGrath: ‘People probably don't want to admit it, there is a bit of luck’

McGrath acknowledges one of the great unspoken realities of elite sport. The breaks. At this level, the margins are fine.

OOHH AAHH: Paul McGrath celebrates after St Brigid's victory in the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile.

There is an emotional scale on which defeats are weighed. St Brigid’s know it well. Every loss hurts, some linger longer than others.

The obvious heartbreak is the one they suffered in 2024 as Glen saw them off by one point to claim the All-Ireland final. It is the one semi-final Man of the Match Paul McGrath is asked about after their latest triumph.

But they put in a huge performance that day. They demonstrated just how good they can be.

Last year, they didn’t even make it out of their county. That is the sort of blow that really stings. The All-Ireland final defeat is there, but it is just one part of the feeling that fuels them for their decider against Dingle.

“It's been massive obviously. That hurt a lot that year,” said McGrath.

“But I'd say the following year probably hurt more when we lost to Pearses in Roscommon. Every year, we just want to win Roscommon and then see what comes after that. Because Roscommon is such a hard championship to win. You have five or six teams there that can beat anyone on any day and I think that year probably hurt the most.

“We had to lick our wounds and see what we can do to come back better this year. And just some year of training put down. We said, ‘Look, let's just get fit from January to July-August.’

"Then just play football and use that fitness to, as you can see, our fast counter-attacks are just top class. The slow attack we probably have to work on, it doesn't come as natural to us, but I think we're getting there.”

There was two minutes on the clock when Conor Glass found the net in that 2024 decider. McGrath can still picture it.

“Look, that happens in games sometimes. It goes against you. Just top-class players – when you’re playing at this level, there are top-class players all over the pitch. It was just an unbelievable goal.

"You can do your best trying to come back from that, but I think for any game, it's very difficult to come back from that position when the momentum just flips like that.”

With that, he acknowledges one of the great unspoken realities of elite sport. The breaks. At this level, the margins are fine. Dingle are one Colm Basquel free away from a comeback coming up short. 

Scotstown had several goal chances on Sunday. They both won their provincial championships in one-score games.

“I think a lot of it, and people probably don't want to admit it, there is a bit of luck to get this far. You just have to have that bit of luck. That year, I think Corofin hit the bar twice against us. I think Castlehaven hit the bar against us.

"Today, we’d two clearances off the line. Against Maigh Cuilinn, I can’t remember but something happened in that game as well where we got a bit of luck.

“Sometimes they go with you and sometimes they go against you, and you have to just try and fight back against it when it goes against you and use it to your advantage when it comes with you.”