Conroy offers no excuses but bemoans double standards of Mayo and Kerry

A tough end to a long season but Eddie Conroy remains proud of the journey that Lahardane MacHales have been on.

The Black and Amber were big underdogs going into this All-Ireland Club junior football semi-against Kerry and Munster champions Listowel Emmets and it did indeed prove to be one hurdle too many, as Listowel ran out convincing eleven points winners. But regardless of the result, the Lahardane manager has expressed pride in what the team has achieved, after bringing county and provincial titles to the foothills of Nephin.

“At the end of the day the lads have won a Connacht title, they have a county title. I suppose if you asked me at the beginning of the year, they would have said they wanted it, but was it realistic? Probably not. But they bought into what I was doing. It's a great achievement for the Lahardane community. It's a small, small parish. People don't realise you've only 30 players to work with. Credit to them, credit to their families and credit to everybody around the place,” Eddie Conroy said.

A slow start cost Lahardane dearly in Tullamore last Saturday, with the limited chances on offer not taken and the game effectively done when Bryan Sweeney capitalised on a short kickout to send the ball into an empty net. But Eddie Conroy said that as manager, he would take full responsibility for the loss.

“They were a very good team, they’re good players all around the pitch. But at the end of the day, if you don't score in the first fifteen minutes you put yourself under pressure. I felt that on four occasions we should have scored but we didn't take it.

“It took us a while to settle and they got their scores easy compared to what we did. It's back to the drawing board, we'll see what happens going forward.

“Joe was brilliant, you can't blame just one thing or put [defeat] on one factor. If it's an element to blame, I'll take full responsibility. That's managers, you'll go down, people are going to be giving out about the manager, what he's done. I'll take full responsibility for that defeat.” 

While not using it as an excuse, the Lahardane manager lamented that his side was not able to able to get a tune-up match in the build-up to this semi-final, while the same did not apply to Listowel Emmets.

“The build-up didn’t suit us. Listowel played Kerry under-20s, we weren't allowed. That has to be looked into. It’s not sour grapes, but if they were, why weren’t we were allowed to play against somebody? We can go down that road, but there's no point, it's a defeat, it's a loss and we just get on with it. That's life. Worst things in life will happen.

“We had As against Bs and we had to bring in some of the under-17s to make up the numbers. That's the difference. I'd rang so many counties looking for a friendly but couldn't get it. We went to our own lads, they couldn't give us anything.” 

Eddie Conroy went on to outline how he had spoken to Mayo U20 boss Peadar Gardiner about the prospect of Lahardane playing the county under-20s but that Mayo County Board would not allow the county side to play until January 1.

“But Listowel went down and got a game with their under-20s, so where do we stand?” asked Conroy.

“Maybe because Lahardane is a small club, maybe we don't get the thing of the big clubs, so look it, it is what it is. We just get on with it. That's not the problem. It's one of the things we should have looked into probably earlier when we qualified, looked for the friendly, but look, that's what it is.” 

As to what lies ahead for Eddie and Lahardane, he intends to sit down with club chairman Derek Sheridan. He hopes to stay on for the club’s entry to the intermediate championship ranks but in the meantime, he will enjoy the downtime as well as a later-than-usual Christmas party.

“I'm going to sit back now and see where we're going to go. It's up to the players now if they think I can bring them on to the next stage. We'll sit down and talk to them and we'll see where we go.

“They need their six weeks off now. It’s been a long year. We didn't start until February but I think the lads need to regroup. We'll probably have a night out ourselves and enjoy it. I know it's women's Little Christmas but I'd say we'll have Lahardane’s Little Christmas tonight!”