Manager says ‘Is féidir linn’

INAGH manager, Flan Garvey never doubted his charges had the ability to capture the coveted All-Ireland Camogie Junior Club crown once the team played to its full potential.
Three points ahead at the break, facing into a very strong breeze, it looked as if Inagh faced a difficult task in the second period.
However, when the former Inagh schoolteacher was interviewed during the interval, he repeated the team’s motto – “Is féidir linn”.
Barack Obama’s mantra “We can do it” was adopted by the new manager at the start of the year and Flan saw no reason to change from his positive attitude, even when the game was in the melting pot.
While Flan was a little concerned with Inagh’s first-half display, having the benefit of the wind and the sun, he knew the team could play a lot better. The former councillor described Inagh as a “second-half team”, which was graphically illustrated in their tremendous comeback from a nine-point deficit against Four Roads in the semi-final.
Flan pointed out their slender interval lead actually worked to their advantage because their players knew they would have to dig deep to beat Tara, who are a very good team. Inagh’s comprehensive victory was a great birthday present for Flan, who turned 68 on Saturday.
“The great self-belief and hunger was instilled in this team against Four Roads, when we went 0-9 down after 25 minutes. We didn’t raise a flag in the first 25 minutes. We couldn’t believe it and didn’t know what was wrong. It was just complete nerves. When they hit back with those two late goals, it proved they would fight back and never give up until the final whistle,” he said.
Flan recalled his first involvement in camogie was in 1977 in Inagh National School, when he was a teacher and subsequently with St Flannan’s Camogie Club. A few years ago, he got back involved and guided them to a Clare Junior B title.
“I hadn’t a notion of coming back this year. Inagh’s leader and trainer, Patricia McCarthy, came to me on the Bank Holiday Monday in June and said we needed a management team. I said that is something I didn’t want to hear but any time I asked Patricia to do anything in terms of politics or getting her sons to play music for charity she didn’t turn me down, so I had to say yes. I am thrilled I did it. I asked Noel Hehir and Anne Wynne to come on board, who were great. We had a great team on and off the field.
“It is great for Clare camogie to win an All-Ireland title. Look at Truagh-Clonlara, who were very close to us in the county final, why can’t they do it? Why can’t Corofin do it, who went to the All-Ireland final last year?
“There is a lot of young camogie talent in Clare. We have enjoyed success at underage level, who are all coming up.  Even in Inagh there is a 15-year-old who is very talented who would be on the intermediate team but it is against the rules to play her on an adult team. But she will be there next year,” he predicted.
Inagh selector, Noel Hehir said the backroom team were concerned about their failure to convert their scoring chances in the opening half.
“It was a bit like the semi-final. We went in six points down but had missed five or six point chances, which didn’t go over for us. We knew from the semi-final Inagh had great heart and would stay hurling and would never give up regardless of the score. With 10 minutes to go, there was still only two points between the teams. It was only then the girls’ heart really showed. They drove on got the goals and thankfully it worked out really well.
Asked if Inagh considered devoting special attention to Tara full-forward, Denise Gilligan, who scored 1-6 in the semi-final, Noel admitted they had received somewhat conflicting reports about her display in previous games and decided to leave their defensive personnel unaltered but had switches planned if things went unexpectedly wrong.
“We knew if Denise went in on Siobhán Lafferty she wouldn’t get anything easy and even if Denise was being marked by another player, she still would have to get past Siobhán en route to goals. We decided we would concentrate on our strengths. All-Ireland titles are scarce enough in Clare. To bring one back to the county is fantastic. We had players from the four corners of the parish and every one of them played their part today. This will be a boost for Clare camogie and for the younger generation, it will really bring them on,” he concluded.