Joy mixed with relief for Moate ladies after final win
Moate team manager Ken Berry was a relieved man after last Saturday’s Westmeath LGFA intermediate final and he admitted that his side “fell over the line” against Caulry.
“I thought we were controlling the first half. We conceded a sloppy goal just before half-time. In the second half, we got ourselves seven points up, but I just knew Caulry were going to come back at us,” Berry told the Westmeath Independent afterwards.
“I know their management team very well. I’ve been with some of them with the county minors and I know Tom Stuart Trainor (Caulry coach, alongside team manager Michelle Baker) 30 years at this stage. I knew we were well prepared, but I knew they’d come in here prepared as well and they made it a battle. I knew they would have a spell and they brought it to the wire,” he continued.
Tara Hughes, who wasn’t listed to start, emerged as a trump card for Moate, scoring four points from play. On a day when both sides found scores elusive at times, this was a significant contribution, and Ken was naturally pleased with the way Hughes performed on the day.
“Tara has struggled all year with injuries, and she came back about six or seven weeks ago, and every night in training you could just see she wanted a jersey. Unfortunately our corner-back Claire (O’Donohoe) pulled her hamstring the other night and we had to reshuffle things.”
The player of the match award went to a popular recipient in Moate goalkeeper Grace Coughlan. “Our (regular) goalie is pregnant and Grace stood in and did a really great job,” said Berry.
In truth, Moate had plenty of influential performers all over the pitch, with Holly Keenan excellent in the first half, while the experience and drive of Stacey Holloway was also important. “Stacey gives it 110 per cent every time she goes on to the pitch. She’s great around all the girls and it is a very young team,” said Ken.
Berry has been heavily involved with Westmeath ladies football at underage level and he is impressed with the talent that is coming through. “How there are not more girls from those two sides on the senior county panel, I don’t know. There is quality in those two teams and I hope to see both of them push on. I know Caulry will give it (the intermediate championship) a good go next year,” said the Rochfortbridge man.
In addition to earning the right to compete at senior level next year, Moate are now looking forward to representing Westmeath in the Leinster arena and Berry admits it is ‘bonus territory’.
“I don’t know who we’re playing, but it’s a nice position to be in, isn’t it?” said Berry
“I’m actually looking forward to a break now for a couple of days and we will be back on Thursday night. I think we play the Longford champions on Saturday or Sunday week, so we’ll give it a go.”
In conclusion, Berry praised the commitment of all the Moate players this year.
“I don’t think we ever had less than 20 at training and they never said no to anything. They never asked ‘why are we doing this’. We ran every night at training; we did two or three running blocks at least in every session. And everyone encouraged each other to get to the line and do it,” added Berry, who is assisted by David Mullins, Brendan King, Donal Bracken and Nicola McCormack, with Katharine Ross and Therese Malone the FLOs.