Leinster adventure a learning curve for Tubberclair

Tubberclair manager Tom Lennon admitted he was "gutted" by his side's narrow defeat to Maynooth in the Leinster intermediate final - but he also reflected on what has been a successful year for the club. "A two-point lead is a dangerous lead in a second half. Because if you're four points up, teams will go for points, but every time they attacked they were going for the goal. We just couldn't get that extra bit in front, if we got another point or two ahead ... but credit to Maynooth, they stuck with us and limited the number of chances we had," said Lennon. "It's been a great year and we'd have settled for this last January. But when you get to a final, you want to win it. I know it's gutting, but the lads will learn; they're young, bar two or three lads, they'll all be back again next year. I'm gutted for them because of the effort they've put in all year. "We probably didn't get the ball into the danger area quickly enough. They had (Karl) Ennis, he was winning ball and his first touch was good. His county class shone in the second half. I mean Jimmy Martin is a good full-back, it was only a matter of inches (for the goal scored by Ennis), another full-forward would be spilling ball but he was holding on to it, and his brother Pierre as well, they were winning crucial ball." Lennon was full of praise for one of Tubberclair's younger players, 20-year-old defender Simon Lawless. "Simon has been a revelation all year, he has a great future, a great attitude and a great work-rate. It's better he's going to be getting. A lot of those younger lads have great futures," said the manager, adding that Mark Fitzgibbon was "a huge loss". The Kiltoom man agreed that the experience Tubberclair have gained in reaching the Leinster final will stand to them when it comes to competing in next year's Westmeath senior championship. "We've had a brilliant run, we're on the go nearly 12 months. You have to experience disappointment to appreciate victory. I think as these lads get back into action next January or February, they'll realise you have to put in the hard work. Every game after the county final was a huge learning curve for the lads going into senior championship next year. Every team we've met - Dunlavin, Palmerstown, Walsh Island and Maynooth - they're all senior teams now. There's a huge step-up from intermediate to senior, it's a huge step-up in pace. To get to the knockout stages (of the senior championship), once you give the commitment early on, it has to be part of your lifestyle. You can't just decide in June 'I'm playing football'. You have to decide in January - you either want to be there or you don't. You see with Garrycastle in a Leinster final, the standard is set now in Westmeath ... if you're not prepared to put in the work, you're just wasting your own time." Meanwhile, Tubberclair goalkeeper Gary Connaughton said: "It's heart-breaking alright. We just couldn't seem to get the extra couple of scores to put them away. Goals wins games, as the saying goes. Karl Ennis took his goal well, he just buried it in the top corner. Of course, it's disappointing. It's a Leinster final and you don't want to lose Leinster finals. You just have to pick yourself up and get on with it. We'll take a couple of weeks off and relax over the Christmas, and then it's back into county football for myself and Fergal (Wilson), and the club will regroup and prepare for senior football." Pointing to the likes of Simon Lawless and Conor Elliott, Connaughton said the Leinster campaign has helped to improve several Tubberclair players. "In fairness to Tom (Lennon), he's a brilliant manager and he did great things all year for us. The aim at the start of the year was to win the intermediate county final and we won that; anything after that was a bonus and we got on a good run. It's all geared up for senior football next year." "Hopefully we can stay up in senior first and build on from that. One or two lads let us down since the county final; they didn't show a lot of respect to the club, but hopefully they'll have a change of heart and cop themselves on and be back playing with us next year again," added the 2008 All-Star.