"He’s travelling ten hours, I’m only ten minutes over the road!”

As players and family members got photos with the Conway Cup out on the field, Rathgormack midfielder James Power praised the commitment of his brother Billy as the trips over and back to Abu Dhabi bore fruit on Sunday.

“He's travelling ten hours for training, I'm only going ten minutes over the road! In fairness to Billy, he loves it. He made the decision to go away, and we all said ‘fair play to him’. You have to live your life too.

“Sport is such a massive part of Billy's life. There were no questions when Kenny Hassett asked him to come home. He loves it just as much as the rest of us. We're delighted to have him back; he kicked a massive score. It was a level game at the time, and 60 minutes were on the clock. That’s when you need someone to step up, and Billy did it.” 

The Nire took them to the wire. “We knew it was going to be a massive battle. They had a few bodies missing, but the lads replacing them were just as strong. County finals aren’t won easily, we know that. This is our seventh one on the trot. We’ve four wins and three losses. It’s always a sweet one to get over the line.” 

They never got flustered when the wides went into double figures. “Last week, we weren’t as good as we wanted to be in front of goal and the same again today. In fairness to this group, it’s always just the next ball. We were unhappy with a couple of shots that weren’t on, but it’s about talking to each other and working it to the man in the best position. We got enough on the board in the end anyway to get us over the line, so we’re delighted!” 

Three in a row was barely mentioned in the dressing room, according to manager Kenny Hassett. “We spoke about it once, in the middle of the year, that we have a chance to do it. If we were thinking too far ahead, we wouldn’t be here. You saw the challenge put up last week and this week. Last week, we maintained our composure, got the score when we needed it, and we did the same today.” 

 Next up is a shot at Éire Óg in the provincial quarter final. Hassett wants to make amends for last year’s one-point loss to Dr Crokes. “We showed we can compete. There’s no reason why we can’t go up to Ennis and compete and come away with a victory. We’ll have to play very, very well. Tonight and tomorrow, we’ll put that on the back burner!” 

Conor Murray agrees that they have unfinished business in Munster. “There is. We’ll enjoy tonight and turn our attentions to next weekend, then up in Ennis. Éire Óg are a serious outfit, but we’ll give it a lash.”