Fennell feels Kilbeggan Shamrocks deserved their slice of luck

David Fennell, one of the many Kilbeggan Shamrocks heroes on the day, was thrilled with the victory and felt a bit of lady luck at the end was no more than their overall display deserved.

“We needed a bit of luck, we were getting nothing before then. We had a few chances of goals in the first half and we missed those; we needed the rub of the green in the end,” he said.

David’s twin brother, Paul was pivotal to the victory and he engineered that memorable winning goal having claimed possession from a Brendan McMahon delivery.

“He hand-passed the ball across goal and it just hit the goalie’s leg and went into the net. We were very lucky in that respect. Conor Delaney was in there applying pressure,” he recalled.

“You need that bit of luck when you get to a final. In fairness the players showed great heart and they have been like that all year. We knew, up front, that we had the firepower because we put up a big score (1-19) in the semi-final. But the pressure was intense today.

“We felt that if we put them under pressure they would make mistakes. It wasn’t a day for forwards: we knew it wouldn’t be a high scoring game. It was down to pressure, heart and work rate and lucky enough we came out the right side.

“I hit the crossbar/post with a shot in the first half and we could have been in for another goal. We just needed a bit of good fortune and in the end it came our way. We’re delighted to get over the line.”