Tears of Joy for Greencastle
SIMPLY unbeatable is probably the best description of the feeling that those from Greencastle will be experiencing this Monday as the full extent of what happened at Croke Park on Saturday night begins to sink in.
A marvellous one point win earned the St Patrick's the title of All-Ireland Junior Champions for 2007. No wonder the tears of joy flowed so freely as Martin and Noel Conway received the Cup from the GAA President, Nickey Brennan, in an unforgettable moment for all associated with Greencastle.
They are now the envy of every club in Tyrone aiming to one day emulate Sean Teague and his team of heroes. But it was the pride of the parish that was in the mind of their manager as he returned with club chairman, Sean Clarke, to the victorious dressing-room afterwards.
"You can't get better than this," said the former Tyrone captain. "Looking down from the presentation area, the whole of Greencastle was there. It's scary how big this is for everybody in the area. We've won on the biggest stage of them all.
"At the minute, this is as good as it gets for us. Obviously if we go to Intermediate and Senior, there's the chance of getting back here, but it's a long way to go and this is going to take some beating.
"This team has a target of trying to hold things and get a few scores in the first half and the start of the second. We then try to build from there and finish strong and it's funny how that was the way things worked here because the spell after the break was very crucial.
"It was the same in the All-Ireland Semi-Final against Killala, in the Ulster Final against Naomh Brid and in the Ulster semi against Drumhowan when we beat them in the final minutes. This team now has a good mentality of playing to the very last," he added.
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Small groups of Greencastle fans could be seen strolling the streets of Dublin in the hours after the match, while the players, family members and club officials enjoyed a lavish celebration banquet. All of them were finally able to let the hair down after weeks of anticipation ahead of Saturday's decider.
Every All-Ireland Final has players who enjoy both good and less than impressive games. For Greencastle, the form of three in particular, Damien O'Hagan in defence, Enda Clarke at midfield and Terry McDermott at centre half forward made a decisive impact.
"Damien O'Hagan was the man. To get a crack in the head like he did early on and finish the game is something else. He was hurting, but you don't tell him to come off and especially not in an All-Ireland Final at Croke Park," added Teague.
"It's very difficult to sum up this year because things are a bit surreal at the minute. It's probably going to take a few days, see the papers and read the headlines before it hits home what we've done here.
"If we take a look into the dressing-room and the players celebrating there, it's gives a bit of an idea. But this is going to take a few weeks to settle down and I'd say we'll have played a few league games and relaxed a bit more before we know what this means to everybody," he said.
Both of last two All-Ireland Junior Champions have gone on to make their mark in the Intermediate grade. The new Intermediate winners from Saturday night, Ardfert, adding it to the Junior crown won by them at Croke Park last year and it's that type of target which now beckons Greencastle.
Whether or not a similar achievement can be recorded matters little to them today as they reflect on a victory that comes fittingly on the 75th anniversary of the setting up of the first GAA club in the parish.
