Ferguson: 'this is the least that we deserve'

Bandon captain Tom Ferguson heaped praise on his side and the hard work undertaken by the west Cork club after yesterday’s thrilling Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup final victory.

Ferguson struggled to describe what this title success means to his team, who shocked defending champions Young Munster at Thomond Park.

“It’s unbelievable; I can hardly put it into words. There were 20 lads togged out today, but there has been 40 lads training and playing with us throughout the year. The effort that has been put in has been unbelievable. This is the least that we deserve, given the work that has been put in, not just this year, but over the last couple of years, by the coaches and everyone in the background.”

Bandon dominated the opening period and raced into a 17-0 lead, but Ferguson was disappointed with late tries conceded late in the first half.

“We did give away two simple tries that we normally wouldn’t let in. I don’t know if we got too far ahead of ourselves but, in fairness, the lads dug deep and showed the character to come back.

“We kept Young Munster scoreless in the second half, which I don’t think any other club would do.

“We were 17-0 up and, after leaving that slip, we knew our six-point lead in the second-half was nothing. We knew we had to give everything we could. There were lads out on their feet after 60 minutes and, all credit to the bench. they came on and did a super job.

“Then we got an opportunistic try late on by Gareth Burton and we thought it was all. He has been doing things like that throughout the year and it is moments like that that will live long in the memory.”