Pearses manager reflects on 'tough week' for his family

Pádraig Pearses manager Frank Canning reflected on a tough week for himself and the wider Canning family, following his side's defeat to St Brigid’s in the Roscommon SFC final replay.

Frank's father Seán passed away on Tuesday of last week, two days after the drawn game, and was laid to rest in Portumna just a day before Saturday's replay at Dr Hyde Park.

“It was tough from a family perspective, your dad is your dad," said Frank.

"Obviously from a GAA perspective as well, the club came first in our house all the time. If you were farming or whatever, well if you had to go to a match, you had to go to a match. I went training on Wednesday night when he was at home in the house and that’s what he would have expected and that’s what my family would expect, to go training to honour him. It was a tough week,” he continued.

Hailing from a famous sporting family in Portumna, Seán is the father of former Galway hurling stars Ollie and Joe Canning. Predeceased by his loving wife Josephine (née Lynch) and his sister Maura (Walker), Seán will be deeply missed by his loving children, Seamus, Deirdre (Mitchell), Francis, David, Oliver, Ivan and Joseph, his son-in-law Micheál, daughters-in-law, Fiona, Caroline, Áine, Treeny and Meg, his 18 adored grandchildren, his brother Frankie, sisters Teasa (McClearn) and Elizabeth (Pearson), as well as his extended family, neighbours and friends.

Frank's son Séan, grandson of the late Séan, played for Pearses in the replay and scored his side's goal, but the Kiltoom outfit went on to claim victory by 1-16 to 1-12.

As for last Saturday's match itself, Frank was philosophical about the defeat to what he described as as "a very good St Brigid’s team".

“To win big games like this against good teams, you need to get every break possibly. The same as last year, when we beat them (at the quarter-final stage), we got breaks. Today the flow of the game seemed to go with them at critical times,” he said.

The Portumna native also refuted the idea that a long campaign - featuring eight matches and two 80-minute knockout battles - took its toll on his team.

“Those games did us good, we didn’t have to play challenges or anything. We just came up against a very good St Brigid’s team, I’m sure Brigid’s would say they came up against a very good Pearses team as well,” said Frank.