Joy for Pearses after final victory over Clann
Padraig Pearses secured their second Roscommon senior football title in three years with a three-point win over Clann na nGael on Sunday.
Goals from Paul Carey and Jack Tumulty helped Pearses to victory 2-8 to 0-11 against a Clann side which found Pearses' structured defence and counter attacking style difficult to overcome.
The contrast between the elder statesmen and the younger generation in this Pádraig Pearses team might be nowhere to be seen when the ball is in play, but off the field, it’s evident in how red letter days like last Sunday are perceived.
Niall Daly is one of the elder statesmen in the group, having put in well over a decade for his club, and he’s very aware that careers can come and go without the big prize ever coming your way.
There were plenty of Pearses stalwarts whose race was run just before the club got across the line two years ago, and it was players like that who were on his mind as he reflected on Sunday’s 2-8 to 0-11 win over Clann na nGael.
“Last year, and losing the final to St. Brigid’s, really made us really appreciate the first one. We got beaten by Clann earlier in the year on a Friday night and things didn’t look great at that stage, so to come from then to where we are now is unbelievable. Everybody really rowed in over the last few weeks and pulled out all the stops,” he said.
“There was years there and we were looking at other lads that we played with, lads who maybe stepped away a bit too early and who had no success, and it’s for them as much as anyone that we’re proud to be able to win on days like today”.
Yet there are others in the club that think differently. Paul Carey has now played in three county finals and won two senior medals, with scope to win plenty more in what should be a long and successful career. Purely by being born at the right time, his perspective is completely different.
“Expectations are set at the start of the year that this is where we want to be, we want to be on this dancefloor every single year,” said the corner forward.
“Everyone doubted us at the start of the year and you could see why, we weren’t playing well. But we hit form and they can’t doubt us now,” he asserted.
Daly spoke about the transition, and how their dismal showing against Clann forced the management to shift their strategy and to encourage a more offensive approach to their games.
“We did change our approach a small bit, to push up a lot more on teams and at the start, myself and Niall (Carty) would have been looking at each other saying that the other tactic worked a bit better a few years ago. But the boys inside stepped up, they took their chances and it’s no coincidence that that happened, and now we’ve ended up where we are,” said the Moate Community School teacher.
“Goals were always going to be important, and our style of play means we do create chances.
“Clann na nGael are a top class team and we had a few more chances in the first half that we would be disappointed with, since we knew they were going to come back at us. But even though it finished with three points between the teams, the second goal was the big score of the game and after that it was just about making sure we didn’t concede a goal at the other end,” he said.
“The boys up front really stepped up, Paul was brilliant in the second half, he got a goal and was involved in the other goal as well, so lads like that stepping up make our job a lot easier”.
Yet while he was basking in the occasion, as was every other player wearing sodden, wet jerseys, Carey’s instinct was to keep one eye on what’s up ahead – and to point out that as far as he’s concerned, there are plenty more good days on the horizon. When asked about the Connacht championship, Niall Daly remarked that he didn’t even know the draw. Carey, in contrast, wasn’t concerned about who they were likely to play, but certainly wasn’t in the mood to just draw a line under the year yet.
“Now it’s about going and taking it one step further,” he said.
“In 2019 we lost to a good Corofin team, one of the best club teams we’ve ever seen in football, and now we want to get back to that stage, to representing Roscommon in Connacht and putting in a serious performance”.