‘We’ll have to up our performance’ - St Brigid’s boss

By Kevin Egan

By now there are nine teams still in the race for the All-Ireland senior club football title, albeit sides like Newbridge, Tullamore and Portarlington would have to win at least one more game before they would be spoken about as realistic contenders to lift the Andy Merrigan Cup.

It’s not that there is any glaring weakness in any of those three sides, as all three have already won provincial quarter-finals, two of them away from home.

However a combination of track record and current form marks out the other six as the more obvious front runners, with St Brigid’s very much in that conversation.

That’s a testament to the all-round footballing ability of the Roscommon champions because it could be argued that they have an obvious weak spot. Their dismal track record from outside the two-point arc continued again last time out against Ballina Stephenites when they put 19 balls over the bar from inside the 40-metre paint and hit the target with just one out of six attempts from outside it.

They also allowed the Mayo side to plunder three goals, proving that Pádraig Pearses’ accumulation of goal chances in the two instalments of the county final wasn’t a statistical anomaly.

In Anthony Cunningham’s view, addressing those shortfalls won’t be easy either. “A lot of it is the way the game has gone, to be honest,” is his assessment of why they are conceding that many goal chances.

Surely that statement suggests that there could be plenty of opportunities for Maigh Cuilinn in this Sunday's Connacht final at King & Moffatt Dr Hyde Park (1pm) as well? “Yes, there will,” is his matter-of-fact response.

“Because of the transition plays now and the way the games are set up, there's a lot more attacking moves,” says the St Brigid’s manager. “There's very little playing behind the ball and protecting leads, you can't do that. You’ve quick frees, you obstruct the player’s run forward and it’s an instant scoring chance. So on the huge plus side of the new rules, it's really opened up the doors for attacking play.”

“There are more open spaces there, we just have to be better at filling those, getting back and getting into defensive positions. But it's also the calibre of the teams and there's also the way games are set up, because you have to attack yourself, so you just can't sit back. If we do get turned over, we're in trouble”.

One possible cavalryman who might come riding over the horizon is Pearse Frost, but while Cunningham confirmed that the Roscommon county defender is training and that the club is hopeful that he might be able to feature if needed, that’s far from certain.

With regard to the two-point shooting, some observers have suggested that St Brigid’s are at their most dangerous when they just go away from that side of the game and stick to their ‘Plan A’, which is generating high-percentage shots from close range with their movement and accurate passing.Cunningham doesn’t quite agree, saying that they need to strike a balance before converting more doubles and sticking to their attacking strengths.

“It's a bit of both. We're always pushing for two-pointers because they're really central to the game now,” he replied.

“With the weather conditions this time of the year, you can't ignore it because you're going to have, more than likely, a strong wind with you at some stage. But yes, for us, if we're good in transition and fast, converting individual points, then you don't break something that's working really well for you.”

As for other areas of concern, Cunningham spoke of the incredibly positive effect that the late Don Connellan had with Maigh Cuilinn while he name-checked Peter Cooke and Fionn McDonagh as threats, but there was no doubt as to who he has earmarked as the heart and soul of the Galway champions.

“Seán Kelly is the man that drives the team a huge amount. He’s been a tremendous player," said Cunningham, a native of Galway and a former manager of the county's senior hurlers.

“Overall, they’re a very formidable side. They’ve beaten some really good teams in Galway, they’ve had their house in order for many years now and Don was a big part of that, and we’ll have to up our performance to beat them, there’s no doubt about that,” Cunningham added.

*See week's print edition for an interview with St Brigid's player Mark Daly.