Longford SFC Final: Killoe captain Cian Farrelly reflects on a very proud day for his family

“It’s unbelievable, especially after the last two years where we fell short of our expectations, so we just did not want to let this one slip, so to be champions again, we are all over the moon.

“I know we have won titles before, but we are always hungry for more and when you get to a county final, you don’t want to lose it, so it’s just brilliant to win the Connolly Cup again.’

It was a very proud day for the Farrelly family as not only did Cian captain the team, but he had three other brothers on the starting fifteen - Niall, Evan, and Gavin - and Cian agreed that it was extra special to win a county senior championship with his brothers.

“It’s massive, I know that mum and dad are massively proud today of our achievement and it is very special to win a county final with your three brothers. 

“The whole squad is a tight knit group and we consider the rest of the lads on the panel to be our brothers as well. It was a super team performance and I’m proud of the lads and it’s a proud day for the parish as well."

Cian gave his thoughts on the championship journey for Killoe.

“We were very happy with the campaign. The group stages went very well for us. In the quarter-final against Slashers we were lucky enough to win that one. 

“It was a very open game and very high scoring, and Slashers always give us a great battle every year we play them, and that victory is what drove us on in the last two games.

“In the semi-final against Colmcille, we had a plan and executed it very well. We knew today was going to be a very hard battle and that we would all have to play really well to win, but we managed to get over the line and that’s the main thing.

“Clonguish are an up-and-coming team who are going to be challenging for the title again next year and they really put it up to us, so fair play to them."

Finally, Cian paid tribute to the management team.

“Luke, Busty, Brendan and Sean are a great combination who brought massive energy and positivity to the players and they really did drive us on. They put in a massive effort into training sessions, tactics and everything.

“The build-up was brilliant in the parish with all the flags and bunting and I have to mention the crowd, it’s probably the biggest crowd that we have played in front of in a county final and the atmosphere was electric.”