I knew we had the legs for extra time – McGrath

By Noel Dundon

Toomevara native and Upperchurch/Drombane coach James McGrath did not make his maiden voyage to Croke Park for this All-Ireland Intermediate Club Hurling final on Saturday.

His coaching CV has taken him from his own clubs at various levels, through to Kilkenny clubs, Upperchurch/Drombane and Monaleen camogie club in Limerick with whom he reached back-to-back All-Irelands in Croke Park.

So, his experience of the big day was really vital to ‘The Church as they readied themselves for the battle of all battles in the national decider. Interestingly though, he pointed to the resilience and defiance of the Upperchurch/Drombane players as being a vital ingredient in their success.

“I would say for anyone watching on TV it will go down as a classic game of hurling, but these are the ones to win and I am sure that there are plenty of clubs in Tipp who are jealous of Upperchurch/Drombane right now,” McGrath began.

“We tried for years to get here, and you get your luck along the way. We had plenty of heart and steel too, and desire.

“But resilience is the big thing. We got through games out of pure resilience and courage. It wasn’t coaching, it wasn’t skill, it was just defiance and when you have that mix of skill and talent, you can go a long way,” James said in the aftermath of the titanic battle.

So, what was the secret of the success which has yielded, county, provincial and national silverware to ensure a full bounty for the ‘Church cabinet?

“Believe it or not, we don’t do a massive amount of physical work. We do a lot of hurling, and we play a lot of ball,” McGrath revealed.

“We don’t do mad running, apart maybe from the odd night if we have to do a blowout. We try to replicate games as much as possible and get our energy levels up to what would be game level. We managed that and I think this victory is a huge achievement and will go down in folklore.”

Mentioning the all-important free landed by Gavin Ryan with the last puck of normal time, James pointed out that this is something he has been doing for many years. And, though the pressure was far greater in Croke Park and the stakes sky high, there was every confidence that the man of the match would land the big fish – he did and just turned and walked off the pitch to get ready for extra time without any real fanfare. That’s what heroes do.

“He took an extra 20/30 seconds to compose himself, but we have seen that many times in Drombane from him,” McGrath said.

“In extra time I felt we would have the legs for them, and I thought we had the bench to do it as well when called upon. We got ten up and then Paul Shanahan came off the field, and it was bang, bang – suddenly two goals for them. It was a nervy finish but thankfully we held out.”