Leahy’s joy mixed with relief as Offaly hold on for victory

By Kevin Egan

Like a new car, winning an All-Ireland title should perhaps come with a warning label at the bottom, saying ‘your mileage may vary’.

For some who get to enjoy that special experience, it’s a level of euphoria like nothing else in life, for others it’s the moment where months and even years of pent up emotion and exhaustion coming flooding through,. And then there was Joe Brolly, who spoke of a sense of being underwhelmed, standing in the shower after Derry’s win in 1993 thinking “is that what all the fuss was about?”

The first word that Clodagh Leahy uses to describe her emotions after last Sunday in Croke Park is “relieved”, hinting at a level of pressure that built up after the semi-final win over Antrim.

“Thrilled, but relieved,” she says then, explaining how the public perception didn’t necessarily match what they felt in the dressing room.

“There was a lot of talk about how Antrim was the real All-Ireland, but we knew all about Kerry, and that they had a lot of experience and a lot of talent as well.

“It wasn’t our greatest performance, we had a lot of wides and thank God for Emer Reynolds in goal, but we did what we had to do in the end.”

Seven minutes into the game, it looked like Offaly – and Clodagh herself – might be on course for a great performance. The Drumcullen player split the uprights from the Hogan Stand side of the pitch on the very first attack, then nailed frees from the each wing as Offaly moved 0-4 to 0-1 up. Yet that proved to be something of a false dawn.

“We had a lot of space in the first ten minutes but you could feel it on the pitch after that, we still had loads of possession but Kerry sucked in tight, they made it very compact, and at times it felt like 14 on 14 in the middle of the field, and then the same up front when the ball came up that way.”

One of the concerns in advance of the game was the Croke Park factor and how the Kerry players had much more experience of that aspect, either with the county team or with the Clanmaurice club, who provided 12 of the 15 starters.

Leahy felt that once the game got moving, that didn’t really feature as much.

“When you’re out there, you’re just reading the game like any other match. If you look up and around you, it’s unreal and it’s very hard to hear the management, or even to get messages across to other players, but I don’t think it changed the game.

“It’s only after when you look out across everyone, you see family and friends, that you realise what a special thing it is, and then we had the homecoming which was brilliant. The supporters were so good to us, we were late getting down and they still all waited for us.”

She admits that there’s no prospect of similar days in the next year or two as the team acclimatises to senior level, but she’s hopeful that a year or two of playing at that level will see Offaly move up the ranks.

“We’re not going to be ready to compete for a senior All-Ireland for at least two or three years, the level of physicality and strength that’s needed is completely different, you just never get to a ball untouched. When I came into the team as a teenager we were still senior and that blew me away, so we know what we need to do,” said Leahy.

“That’s what the winter months are for, the summer is for hurling, so when we get back at it, it’ll all be about getting physically ready. We’ll have more players coming up behind us to freshen in up, the minors are very talented, so for now the target is to be competitive, focus on teams like Limerick, Clare and Wexford, and get a few wins.

“But I think we’re ready for that challenge now,” she added with a measure of confidence.