Jerome Stack: 'I'm proud of them'
St Brigid's manager Jerome Stack. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
By Cian O'Connell
It was some adventure for St Brigid's.
Even though the pain of an AIB All-Ireland Club SFC Final defeat was evident, Brigid's manager Jerome Stack acknowledged the grit and determination demonstrated by an emerging team throughout the campaign.
"That bunch of players, the whole panel, and not everybody gets a run on the day, but the spirit and unity within that panel - the no fear of playing anybody or the situation – I’m proud of them," Stack reflected after Sunday's 2-10 to 1-12 defeat against Glen.
"I think that they’re a marvellous bunch of players so I’m not going to get into the different parts of the game, but we were facing a really tough task in the second half, really difficult conditions, everything coming against us, and they nearly went and did it."
Stack praised the Brigid's players approach. "That’s a great credit to all of them and I think we played some wonderful football in the second half, we didn’t show fear, we didn’t go back into our shell, we just went at the game," he added.
"Those players are a credit to their club, they’re a credit to the fellas that have coached them. They’ve always played football like that, the one thing I tried to bring when I came is that I wanted them to become hardened and battle ready, to be ready to play any which way is necessary in a game.
"The actual no-fear of playing is already there, and I think that’s due to the coaches in the club, the tradition in the club, and I would also echo on that, they respect everybody.
"Any game we’ve played this year, we felt we could win it, but we didn’t feel that we were any better than anyone else, it would always be necessary to outwork them and to outplay them."
Having suffered a narrow loss in last year's decider, Glen's endurance was also highlighted by Stack.
"Glen are a marvelous team," Stack remarked. "They’ve come to two All-Irelands in a row, they were a kick of a ball away from it last year, they came back and that’s a fantastic achievement in itself, they’re obviously a fantastic bunch, and they have huge desire and hunger and I respect that.
Our dressing room is hugely disappointed, and I’m terribly disappointed for the players, but I have respect for what they’ve done as well."
