AARON Holland played a starring role in the Kilbrittain rearguard, particularly in the first half when he was left unattended after Kilrossanty decided to operate with a five-man attack while playing into a strong wind.

BY NOEL HORGAN

Whether it was a new experience for Holland or not, he adapted to it in fine style, using good positional sense to do an amount of effective covering, as well as contributing a booming point to his side’s first-half return.

‘We knew Kilrossanty carried a great threat in the forward line, so we had a plan made to deal with it,’ he revealed,

‘While everything seemed to go well for us in the first half, we felt they were bound to have a purple-patch with the wind behind them.

‘We expected them to come back at us strongly, but we had our minds made up that no matter what happened, we’d just have to knuckle down and pick things up again if the pressure came on.

‘That’s the way it turned out, and I thought James Hurley, Eoin O’Neill and Darragh Considine were outstanding in the full-back line in the second half.’

Holland also lauded the input from the forwards after the interval.

‘Once the lads up front got a bit of space, they showed what they were capable of, and Luke Griffin and Conor Hogan were able to do fierce damage inside,’ said Holland.

No wonder Aaron Holland was all smiles in Mallow on Saturday! (Photo: Paddy Feen)

Not for the first time, Mark Hickey emerged as the Carbery side’s chief marksman, finishing with a tally of 1-9, all but a goal of which came from frees.

The goal came little over ten minutes into the second half, and was instrumental in signposting Kilbrittain’s path to victory after Kilrossanty had hit the ground running on the turnover.

Hickey was keen to give the bulk of the credit to Conor Hogan for Kilbrittain’s first three-pointer.

‘I nearly had to walk it in after Conor flicked it through to me, and it was all down to him that we made a crucial breakthrough at that stage,’ Hickey said.

‘I suppose we were lucky to get the wind in the first half, it allowed us to build up a nice lead, but we were a bit lackadaisical at the start of the second half. Thankfully, we kicked on again after getting the goal, and I thought our backs – Holland, Considine, Hurley, all of them – were unreal.

‘We had our homework done on Kilrossanty, we knew Seamus Fitzgerald was going to sit back as sweeper, and that we had to try to keep the ball away from Pádraig Fitzgerald as much as possible.

‘We practised all week in training how to cope with those issues, and we’re just delighted our preparations paid off.’

Captain Philip Wall revealed that lifting a trophy for Kilbrittain was something he dreamed about as a young boy.

‘It’s definitely special, and, after winning the county, it’s very satisfying to come out on top against a good Kilrossanty team today,’ he said.

‘You don’t get to a Munster final without being a good team, and I thought the scoreline flattered us to be honest, because they had a lot of wides in the first half.

‘I was a bit disappointed with my own performance, but the likes of Bertie Butler and Mark Hickey were outstanding, Hogan and Luke as well, and I suppose it’s really important when you can trust the guys around you,’ Wall pointed out.

‘We’ll certainly enjoy tonight, but we’ll be back training for an All-Ireland semi-final, and all our focus is on that now,’ he stressed.