Last year’s heartache spurred on Borris/Kilcotton - PJ Scully

BORRIS/Kilcotton put the heartache of being relegated last year behind them when they were crowned Premier Intermediate champions on Saturday. Joint-captain PJ Scully spoke about how much it means to get over the line after a difficult final quarter.

“It's a great feeling. I suppose the last maybe 10-15 minutes of the match, it was nervous. We knew we were under pressure with Ballinakill, they kind of pushed us back down the field. We couldn't get the ball up with the breeze and just lucky to get over the line. But look, tonight we did get over the line and we're going to enjoy this one,” Scully said.

There was a serious breeze blowing in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Saturday night and Scully said they decided if the toss was won, they would play with the wind and hopefully ‘build up a lead’.

“We set out that if we did win the toss that we were going to go for a jugular early on and see if we could build up a lead. Luckily for me a few chances fell, and I suppose in the semi-final maybe I didn't take them, luckily tonight I did. We obviously had some other great performances around the field with Niall Coss, Jer Quinlan and just a few to mention. It was a good first half performance, second half probably didn't match it but look, we're not going to be too concerned about tonight. The main thing is we won tonight and that's all we care.” Scully gave a mention to his fellow joint captain Stephen Finan who had an outstanding game. Scully said, ‘he’s a nightmare to mark’. He also admired the all-round team performances to aid their win.

“In one way I'm kind of delighted that he's down the other end because most nights he's on me and he's a bit of a nightmare to mark. So, I know what it's like for Ballinakill forwards tonight. Marking him, he's a top-class player, has been for us for a long time now. It's always great but look, again we had Matthew Whelan back there showing his experience, Noah Quinlan was outstanding again for us there tonight so it's a great team performance from us.” Looking ahead to the Leinster club championship, Borris/Kilcotton will face the Westmeath champions in round one. Scully talked about how they haven’t looked at the draw as it would be disrespectful to Ballinakill.

“Honestly, we haven't looked at it or even thought about it. Again, we respected every team in this championship. Tonight, again, it was all about Ballinakill. They're a brilliant team. We've had some great battles with them over the year. We'll just go and enjoy it tonight.

“We'll probably regroup there on Tuesday or Wednesday and we'll have a look and see what the Westmeath champions are going to bring. I think it's up there so it's going to be a tough battle. A lot of the Laois teams in this championship haven't been successful. So, we're hoping to fly the flag for Laois now in it and try and go far in it.”