'The next step is Leinster' - Sweeney sets new target

PORTARLINGTON manager Ronan ‘Roly’ Sweeney was understandably delighted after guiding his side to another Laois Shopping Centre Senior Football Championship title on Sunday.

The Portarlington club claimed their third Laois SFC title in a row and sixth in seven years after producing a devastating second-half display to defeat Courtwood by 1-19 to 0-8 at Laois Hire O’Moore Park.

It was Sweeney’s first year in charge and he has immediately delivered a league and championship double, while Portarlington have now secured their second three-in-a-row of senior championship titles.

“Ah, listen, it feels fantastic; I’m delighted. Absolutely thrilled. It's been a long road now since we started pre-season in January with a very young team. As you know, Laois is under 17 for minor, so there were a lot of 17-year-olds there at pre-season. We were in Division 2 this year, which actually worked out perfectly because we were able to give a lot of young players a lot of game time at adult level, which they might not have got if they were in Division 1. Overall, the year has been brilliant up to this point,” said Sweeney.

Portarlington trailed by a point with 20 minutes remaining on Sunday, but they finished the game with an incredible 1-12 without reply to pull away from Courtwood.

Sweeney believes the chances his side created throughout the game were eventually rewarded.

“Even though it was kind of a tight first half, I thought we were still creating a lot of chances. It was just our final shot, our shot selection and our execution weren't great. I just thought if we could keep creating that amount of chances in the second half with the wind, that we'd eventually get there because there's some really, really good forwards here in Portarlington. So, I knew they'd come to the fore in the end,” he explained.

Courtwood had played with a strong wind in the opening half and the sides went into the interval level at 0-5 apiece. Sweeney was happy with that scoreline given the conditions and the threat posed by Courtwood’s attack.

“I was because we knew the threat that Courtwood had with their quality of the forwards and obviously the quality of their goalkeeper who can kick from 60 metres, 65 metres probably in that wind. We were really, really disciplined not to foul in that area and I thought the lads did that so well. I was delighted with that at the end. Even though we weren't overly happy with the other end, but, like I said, I knew that it would come right,” he said.

The Portarlington manager was also keen to acknowledge the contribution of the club’s younger players, with several teenagers featuring during the campaign.

“We kept talking about that for the last couple of weeks. There's just such experience in the group now. Right now, at this time, it's very typical that the competition for players is huge, but there were still a lot of young players playing today. Hugh Connolly, Tom Corcoran, Conor Moran played the last day and Sean Moran has been playing all year. They’re only kids, they’ve school tomorrow. Well, maybe not tomorrow!” said Sweeney.

The Portarlington manager knows what it takes to succeed beyond county championships, having won two Leinster club medals during his playing career with Moorefield.

He sees similarities between his current group and the Moorefield side he was part of and believes Portarlington can now take the next step in testing themselves at provincial level.

“We (Moorefield) played in many and lost a lot as well, but we managed to win two, which was fantastic. The joy that that brings to a team, a group and a community. This group reminds me of Moorefield a little bit and where they're at. They've won a good few club championships now and I think now is the next step in terms of giving Leinster a right good rattle and preparing properly for it,” he concluded.