"They just love to prove that they're the best all the time"
December 16, 2024
Kilkerrin-Clonberne manager Willie Ward celebrates with daughter Nicola Ward, left, and Anne Marie Boyle. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
By Daire Walsh
Kilkerrin-Clonberne manager Willie Ward said there is an insatiable desire within the squad as the Galway champions pushed on to claim their fourth consecutive AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Championship title.
The holders were pushed all the way by a Kilmacud Crokes side appearing in their first final but in the end Ward’s charges found a way to win an exciting contest at Croke Park.
“Our ability to mind the ball probably makes an awful difference in games,” said Ward. “Particularly coming towards the end of a game when we’ve established a lead. We’re very good on the ball and very good at just not giving the opposition opportunities into the game.
“They just love to prove that they’re the best all the time and they just love to win. When you come to Croke Park, this is our third time here, why wouldn’t you want to come here? Why wouldn’t you want to win here and why wouldn’t you give absolutely everything you’ve got when you are here? That’s the way they are.
“They want to get back here, no matter how we think at the beginning of the year when we start training, I’d imagine in their heads they’re thinking ‘we want to get back to the club All-Ireland final again this year’. That has been every year now for the last three years since we won our first one.”
Kilmacud Crokes manager Paddy O’Donoghue acknowledged that the reigning champions held an edge once they got in front.
“They’re a class team,” said O’Donoghue. “They were three in-a-row champions coming into the final for a reason. They’re the standard bearers. A bit like Dublin when they were going for the six-in-a-row, you have to get to really, really good heights to be even close to them.
“We got off to a nice start, but then we went from 0-2 to 0-1 to 0-6 to 0-2 down. Those 15 minutes just hurt us. We were chasing that lead all the time then. Kilkerrin just don’t give the ball away cheaply and they scored every few minutes. The scoreboard is always motoring with them. We probably went too long without getting a third point or a fourth point. Just that 15 minutes from 10 to 25 really hurt us.”
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