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 of the Dunloy challenge by Michael Dundon The Corkman 26th February 2004 | |||
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At the conclusion, delighted Newtownshandrum supporters streamed on to Semple Stadium pitch to salute their heroes who had brought glory to the parish.
But amid all the back-slapping euphoria and confident predictions regarding the final against Dunloy, manager Patsy Morrissey had his feet planted firmly on the ground. He said that while the victory over O'Loughlins was a massive one for the club, an equally tough task awaited them in the final.
"Dunloy are a big team who are much more experienced than our lads at this level, and we will have to prepare very well for them if we are to win", he said.
Morrissey was full of praise for his players who had played their hearts out and for the club's supporters. "The support we get from our followers will be great for the parish which will really be buzzing in the coming weeks."
"After the drawn game we looked at the video of the clash to iron out some difficulties w had. We felt we did not play to our potential then but very importantly in the replay, our less-experienced players came up trumps and we got the result we wanted, and I think deserved," he added. He added that he was looking forward to what will be a unique final pairing and that the team would be settling back into preparations this week.
Ben O'Connor - scorer of eight points - said that Newtownshandrum's success showed what can be achieved by a small club and their reaching the All Ireland final will be a huge day for the club.
"We benefitted from the draw. We had played some challenges before that, but there is no substitute for championship hurling and the draw with O'Loughlins really sharpened us up", he said.
He added that Dunloy will be a different proposition: "We will have to knuckle down to preparing for them and to working out a game plan for the occasion."
"We have our own style of playing and sometimes we have been criticised for it, but we know what we can do and hopefully we will keep it going for another match" he added.
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www.newtownshandrum.com | |||