THE LAST FIFTEEN minutes of a county final can be a nervy time for the players on the field.
When St Vincent’s defender Ger Brennan was sent-off in the 45th minute, he faced an even more anxious spell on the sideline as Castleknock kicked two quick-fire scorers to reduce the margin to two points, 0-11 to 0-9.
Fortunately for the former Dublin star, his teammates regained control of the game and scored four of the final five points of the game to seal the win.
“It was a bit silly from me,” said Brennan. ”The physicality maybe has gone out of Gaelic football a bit. If I was playing hurling the hits would have been fine. I can’t fault the referee, he had a solid game.
“But in fairness to the lads, they probably started to play a bit better after I went off. Sometimes that happens when you go a man down.
“I thought we controlled the last 15 minutes very well in terms of our use of possession. We managed the work-rate with our half-forward and full-forward line.
“The Castleknock runners are very strong from their defence as they’ve been showing in the last couple of seasons as they progressed through the divisions. I thought our full-forwards and half-forwards were super.”
Brennan, who was already on a yellow, picked up a second one for clattering recklessly into Kevin Kindlon who was racing through on goal.
He then followed up with a strike to the face of Martin Grogan, was somewhat fortunate not to receive a straight red.
“The was probably trying to get me back for something else I might have done to him earlier on, but that’s championship football and it’s a county final,” continued Brennan.
“There’s no inch given and no inch taken, you’ve got to stand your ground and Castleknock were worthy opponents today.
“Their style of play is very deliberate, very organised, very difficult to break down. I think our patience and a bit of experience maybe told towards the end.”
The 2014 All-Ireland champions face Carlow winners Palentine on Sunday, just eight days after the conclusion of the Dublin championship. Brennan has no issues with the quick-turnaround.
“It’s great, week on week, it means the training won’t be as tough. We’ll have one or two quiet ones tonight and recover tomorrow and just get the head down.
He concluded: “I think it’s Palatine from Carlow next week so we’re going to enjoy tonight anyway.”
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