Key players stood up at key moments - Roe

PORTARLINGTON manager, Pat Roe could not have been prodder of the players in the aftermath of Sunday final. He commended the players for dogging it out against Courtwood.

“I thought they were heroic, particularly in the second half. It was a dogged game. It wasn't a great game, but it was a proper scrap. I thought our lads were absolutely brilliant, I'm so proud of them,” Roe said.

Colm Murphy was named man of the match and looked to be carrying an injury, but Roe admitted that each time the physio came back to him, she told him that he’s staying on. He also praised his big name players for the way they saw out the final few minutes of the game when Courtwood threw everything at them.

“We never jeopardise a player. Rachel, each time she went out to him she came back and said no, he's staying on. Of course we're pleased because, when it came to managing the game in the last six or seven minutes, I really thought our key players, Ronan, Rioghan, Robbie, Jay Moore and Colm really stood up, Keith Bracken until he went off and Sean Byrne. Around that middle third, I thought they were tremendous,” he said.

Portarlington’s Paddy O’Sullivan was well marshalled for most of the game as Courtwood decided to give Collins Ugochukwu his first start in this year’s championship, and his job was to man-mark O’Sullivan. Roe knows that it’s very hard to keep O’Sullivan quiet for a full game.

“They managed him very well. It was clear that Courtwood’s plan was to pay close attention to our three key players. I thought they did it very well for long periods, particularly on Paddy. But, for 60 plus minutes you cannot keep that man bottled up, not for 60 plus anyhow. In the last 15, he was magnificent,” Roe said.

Colm Murphy’s penalty after three quarters of an hour was the score that decided the game. Roe says that it was always going to be hard for Courtwood as they failed to score anything from play.

“That was the pivotal point in the game. The difference between the two teams was the penalty. I thought Courtwood battled tremendously well. Again, I thought they were tremendously well-organised. Look, if you don't score from play, you're always going to be struggling, and we had more scorers from play,” he added.

Captain Ronan Coffey mentioned in his winning speech that Roe was meant to be in South America, but when the lads asked him back at the start of the year, he accepted. He feels this championship means more than last year’s.

“I’m more pleased with this one I suppose than last year because it was much harder. After winning last year, we were up there to be knocked down. Everyone had a right good shot at us, and like true champions, here we are again. They're magnificent men,” Roe commented.

Portarlington will once again represent Laois in the AIB Leinster Club Senior Football Championship, where the club will face Carlow’s Old Leighlin.

“That's exactly it, and we will represent Laois with pride. We'll celebrate this as we should, but we'll get back to training during the week and we'll get ourselves as ready as we possibly can be for Old Leighlin next week,” he ended.