'Hard words' at half-time trigger desired response from Brigid's

St Brigid's manager Noel O'Brien believes the pressure of playing a Connacht final on home turf had a negative effect on his team in the opening half of last Sunday's dramatic showdown. However, despite having been outplayed in the first half, Brigid's were only three points down at half-time - and this was a major source of encouragement as the defending champions prepared to launch a recovery mission. "It was always a worry (the pressure of playing at home) during the week. People tell you it's great to be playing on your home pitch. But I mentioned a few times that it can be a disadvantage sometimes; you're expecting things to happen instead of making the bloody things happen," said the Brigid's boss. "We stood off guys too much in our backline. We allowed balls to break and not pick them up in the middle of the field, we weren't winning the dirty ball. Maybe we thought being at home in Kiltoom was worth three or four points to us, but it wasn't. If you don't perform, it doesn't matter where you're playing, you're not going to win. "In the first five or ten minutes of the game, we overturned ball, we gave it away too cheaply and they went down the field and kicked points off it. It was kind of heart-wrenching. I don't know whether it was nerves, we looked like a team who hadn't played in a Connacht final before. "If they had taken their chances in the first half, they could have been another three or four points up which would have made it much more difficult for us to come back. Once we got in there (to the dressing-rooms at half-time) only three points down, we knew we had a great chance. We had a long, hard chat in there. A lot of good, hard words were said at half-time by management and players, like they were against Tourlestrane (in the semi-final). "We went in at half-time lucky to be only three points down. Once we got in there and reorganised, we saw a different Brigid's in the second half. We knew we hadn't played in the first half. I don't think we strung five passes together in that first half. A lot of hard talking went on in there." The shooting skills of man-of-the-match Frankie Dolan and midfield dominance of Karol Mannion really inspired Brigid's in the second half, but the introduction of recently returned army officer Ian Kilbride also proved vital. "Ian hadn't played much football; last Thursday night was the first night he was back. We knew his physical fitness was never going to be a problem. Ian coming on allowed us to put Peter (Domican) back into the full-back line, so they weren't getting any soft ball in there. Ian had the physical strength to win 50-50 balls and he put in some hard tackles. He made a huge difference, no doubt about that," said O'Brien. The Corofin camp was incensed by many of the refereeing decisions of Liam Devenney and the Mayo official - who issued 14 yellow cards - had to be escorted off the field amid angry scenes at the final whistle. A former inter-county referee himself, O'Brien tends to steer away from criticising officials and it was no different last Sunday. "Whatever you get, you take on the day. I suppose if you referee by the rulebook that's what happens (the number of yellow cards). If you lose, you pick at little things; but if you win, all those things are covered up. "We got the win and whatever happened in between doesn't concern me at this stage. I know they (Corofin) are not happy with some of the decisions. I didn't see what went on out there and it's nothing to do with me." It was suggested to O'Brien that the second-half display was the best Brigid's have produced since the All-Ireland semi-final victory over Nemo Rangers early this year. "We played so poorly in the first half there was only one way we could go and that was up, and that's what happened," he responded in matter-of-fact fashion. "They (Corofin) hadn't pushed on and we knew if we got the ball and ran at them, we had them. We knew we had the legs. We were that little bit sharper and fresher coming to the end of the game. Our chat in the dressing-room at half-time was - 'get up, get ahead by one point and let's see how bloody good they are'." The free-taking prowess of Corofin's Alan O'Donovan meant Brigid's had to be on their toes in terms of tackling and they responded with a remarkable show of discipline, particularly in the pressure cooker closing stages. "We've been working on that for a long time even going back to a two years ago when I came in first. We had a slight problem of lads getting frustrated at times and diving in with silly tackles," said O'Brien. St Brigid's now prepare for an All-Ireland quarter-final against British representatives Fulham Irish in Ruislip on December 4. "We go to London, a very dangerous one. If the attitude is not right going over there, that game out there will mean absolutely bloody well nothing," O'Brien insisted. "We have to get our concentration levels right, we have to push on from here. But unless we improve by another 20 or 30 per cent, we're not going to win an All-Ireland title." While the men from Kiltoom and Cam have their sights set on another tilt at All-Ireland glory, for now they can bask in the satisfaction of retaining their Connacht title. "When you have a team like we have at the moment, you've got to take whatever is going. You've got to keep driving on and believing you're as good as anyone else out there. If we can play for sixty minutes, we're going to be a serious team to beat," added O'Brien in a somewhat ominous warning to potential rivals.