Lack of game time and injuries conspire against Mullingar men

St Oliver Plunkett’s manager Ciaran McKenna, while delighted with his team’s success in Westmeath this year, admitted that a lack of games in recent weeks had caught up with his side on Saturday. Furthermore, their preparations were hindered with injuries.

“We had a good season, a good year overall, but the lack of games caught up with us today. We knew we’d be cold coming into the match and that was the danger. We never got into the game; we thought as the game went on we would grow into it, but we never did,” he observed.

“Our touch was poor today, our sharpness, our physicality - we just weren’t up to it to be honest.

It’s a marker we will have to work towards for next year. That’s where the senior ‘A’ standard is in Westmeath so we will have to knuckle down over the winter and make a plan to get back up to that level.”

He was happy with the impact of some of the younger players against a strong Naomh Mearnóg side.

“Some of the younger players impressed, which was good. Nathan (Cornally) and Shane (Ormsby), when they came in, brought great freshness to it. But we let them out too easy with the ball; we didn’t really contest that strongly enough. We had plenty of chances, plenty of possession, but just didn’t find our form,” he said.

“Our passing was a bit sloppy and our hurling in general was the same. We turned the ball over way too easy and were poor with shooting opportunities. All the stuff that when it doesn’t go your way on the day just came together and we struggled. It is disappointing, but there is a lot more in this group of players.

“We had a lot of injuries in the last few weeks since the county final; we were lucky in the county final to have just one injury, whereas today we had four or five. You need everyone on the pitch and everyone going well (to win). It is what it is.”

St Oliver Plunkett’s are keen to push on and build for the future with a renewed emphasis on their underage development in recent seasons.

“It’s a big driver for us: these players know they have a big responsibility to keep the club up in senior ‘A’ hurling and contesting at the highest level because we have a really good underage structure. We are strong at the different age grades; there are big numbers and people are driving it on. It is our responsibility to keep this team at senior ‘A’ level and have a good platform for when the younger players break through,” he remarked.