AARON GILLANE SAYS that recovering from a broken jaw to make Patrickswell the most successful club in Limerick history trumps last year’s All-Ireland final triumph.
The 23-year old collected his second county medal on Sunday when he shot six points as Patrickswell went top of the roll of honour in Limerick by dethroning champions Na Piarsaigh who were chasing a third title in a row.
Gillane looked set to miss Patrickswell’s march to their 20th crown when he suffered a broken jaw against Kilmallock in August but despite suffering another hit on it last week, he lined out to play a big role on Sunday.
“The All-Ireland final weekend and all that was great, ending the 45-spell spell with Limerick. But I honestly mean this, with my hand on my heart, this is better than anything. Winning with your club, I honestly mean that.
“There was never a doubt about me playing. You are never going to turn down the opportunity to play a in a final. A broken jaw is a broken jaw. Obviously it was sore but nothing was going to stop me playing in a county final.
“This might be the sweetest one of all. We went all year unbeaten. Winning makes us the most successful club in Limerick ever. It’s hard to put it into words, it’s unbelievable. We haven’t lost all year and we don’t intend on stopping now. We are going to keep going for as long as we can,” said the 23-year old.
Patrickswell, looking for their first crown since 2016, survived a barren spell of almost 25 minutes without a score and Gillane paid tribute to the work of manager Ciaran Carey.
“We didn’t panic and that is down to the belief the management have instilled in us all through the year. In years gone by we might have collapsed when we saw the scoreboard and we had been so far ahead, we might have panicked.”
Gillane will be heading to Barbados for the Limerick team holiday at the end of the week but he said there was no way he was going to miss the celebrations in Patrickswell.
“If the holiday was tomorrow I would prefer to spend the week in Patrickswell. Patrickswell is the place to be this week. We are definitely going to enjoy it. We have worked so hard since December and January this year. These things don’t come around too often. When they do you have to grab it with both hands and enjoy it.”
Gillane said that captain Cian Lynch showed why his class to get them over the line when they came with a storming finish to win by 1-17 to 0-15.
“People might only see him every couple of weeks. I am seeing him play two or three times a week since the two of us were six or seven. The one thing that stands out in mind with Cian Lynch, when he is needed he always stands up.
“Even going back to Fitzgibbon Cup, we were in the final, the chips were down against us, Cian came up with a great performance, man of the match, and got over the line. Munster U-21s final there a few years ago we were up against it, Cian put shoulder to the wheel again, man of the match again. Man of the match again in this one. He plays well when he has to and in my eyes definitely one of the best players in the country,” added Gillane.
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