The View: Disappointed Nenagh need to find consistency if they are to progress

Clonoulty Rossmore was a hive of celebration on Sunday evening and into Monday as the parish feted the wonderful achievement of the senior hurlers in capturing the Dan Breen Cup against all the odds.
Nenagh Eire Og were the overwhelming favourites going into the game but they found themselves caught up in an arm wrestle - one which they just could not wriggle free from.
The west men had learned their lessons. Having played Nenagh Eire Og on a number of occasions this season, they had the favourites sized up, knew what they had to do to win, and carried out their plan with clinical execution. Perhaps that is why there is such a huge sense of satisfaction in the parish right now as they acknowledge that, everything they had worked out in advance, also worked out in real time on the pitch on Sunday.
Contrast that with the picture in the Nenagh Eire Og dressingroom. Players with their heads in their hands, tears flowing, bodies battered and bruised, dreams crushed. And, most agonisingly of all, a knowledge that you just did not perform on the biggest day of the year.
Where did it all go wrong for Nenagh Eire Og? On the face of it, it's probably easy to say that they just didn't turn up; their big players failed to perform; the big day got to them again.
But, that simple analysis does not give enough credit to Clonoulty Rossmore who had their match-up's down to perfection, and who knew how to strike at the heart of this Nenagh Eire Og machine.
The major attacking threats of sharpshooters Michael Heffernan and Jake Morris were, for the most part decommissioned - Joey O'Keeffe doing a wonderful job on Heffernan who ran amuck against Sarsfields in the semi-final.
But, if Clonoulty Rossmore ensured that the Nenagh Eire Og forward division was tied up in knots, they also ensured that at the other end of the field, there would be no space afforded to defenders to get the head up and deliver quality ball upfield - they had learned an invaluable lesson from Sarsfields downfall two weeks previously. Nenagh Eire Og have been on the receiving end of county final defeats too regularly for a team of its talent. They will certainly feel that this was one which got away, purely on the basis that they did not get to their expected level of performance. That will hurt them most. But, what's to be done now?
The only thing they can do is put this defeat behind them; don't dwell on it too much; and get ready to remount the horse in the new season. Crying over spilled milk will solve nothing and if players and management are honest with themselves, they will acknowledge that had they been informed at the start of the season that they would reach a county final, they would regard that as a big achievement - it still is a big achievement for the season and they must now try to build on that in 2019, starting with adding a level of consistency to their performances which has been lacking.
As for Clonoulty Rossmore, winning the county final has elevated the players and management to a new plateau. They have trusted each other, learned from each other and bought-in to the mission - those who drifted away during the course of the season are surely sorry now.