Niall Cleary - Setanta are in dreamland after Ulster IHC title win

It was a mixture of elation and relief that happy Setanta joint manager Niall Cleary was feeling after their thrilling 1-16 to 2-11 Ulster IHC final win over Eire Óg Carrickmore on Saturday. 

And the fact that both he and Kevin Campbell started for the men from Crossroads as dual management is probably a first too. 

The Offaly native has already won a county senior hurling championship with his home club Shinroe, but the weekend’s win is right up there with the highlights in his career. 

“It’s hard to describe apart from pure relief at the way the second-half panned out,” he said. 

“But I am just so proud of the group of players, the community and the families and everything we have achieved so far this year and it has just been such an incredible year so far. 

“I can’t give enough credit to the lads. There’s boys in there waiting for surgery, there’s boys who are strapped up but still have the courage to go out and play and perform as they did in the biggest day in the history of the club. 

“They showed great courage in the second half when things were going against us. I feel incredible pride in them all today.” 

And unlike previous matches, Setanta started off pretty well with Gerard Gilmore deadly accurate from frees. 

“It was third time lucky with the start and we put a big focus on it after the first two games. 

“We needed to settle into the game, and we dropped Barney Lafferty a bit further back to get us into the game and attack the game from there. 

“Gerry Gilmore was really on form on the frees today which was also vital. But this was a real team effort as in the past we might have had individual efforts but it is now a unit as everybody is chipping in with scores, blocks, hooks and it is a true team effort.” 

When reminded of Carrickmore’s great 14-man comeback after the break, when they wiped out a six points deficit, Cleary said it was no surprise. 

“We knew they would bring an onslaught in the second half and maybe we had a little bit of complacency and a bit nervous after being up by six points. 

“But we settled down and played our game and then got the vital goal towards the end.” 

And Sean Ward’s super strike for goal made all the difference. 

“I could not see it properly, but Ruairi Campbell is hard to tie down in there as he is jinky and very fast and very brave.” 

For Cleary, this victory might not quite erase the pain of losing to Kilburn Gaels in the JHC All-Ireland semi-final last year, but this win goes a long way towards banishing those blues. 

He admitted that he was a bit nervous when Carrickmore’s Aidy Kelly hit a late goal to leave just two points between the sides. 

“The referee played seven minutes of extra time, but I thought that Steven McBride had a great game at full-back. 

“He is a top class intercounty full back and he played through the pain as he was strapped up and did train since the Middletown match and he was adamant that he was going to play today. 

“I won a senior county championship in Offaly when my dad was manager and that was very special, and I was in Croke Park when we won the Nickey Rackard Cup in 2020 and this is a very special day for all of us.”