Hogan and Bergin hail Gaels’ fighting spirit in tight battle

For the second time in a number of weeks O’Loughlin Gaels are on their way to Croke Park but for a lot of Sunday’s game, that result looked highly unlikely.

“Cushendall came out of the blocks so quick and we just didn’t deal with their runners and we’d no answer to them for the first 15 minutes,” Brian Hogan said.

“There’s a sense of a lack of helpfulness from the sideline at that point as you’ve given the lads the instructions and you’ve spoken to them all week and then they hit you with a quickfire 1-5.

“Credit to the players as it is them that solved the problem and I’d very little input at that stage.

“We got a few points and got the scoreboard ticking over and we said to them at half-time that they (Cushendall) had thrown the kitchen sink at us with the wind yet were only one score ahead so we knew what we needed to do.

“We got three points at the start of the second half but credit to Cushendall they came back and it was nip and tuck all the way.”

Winning tight games has only increased the belief in the team.

“From the beginning of the year we’ve been trying to drive home to the lads in how much we believe in the quality they have,” he said.

“They can really hurl and I still feel that they haven’t really gone out and really expressed themselves to the full extent like they can do.

“We’ve had periods but winning tight matches like that is important and it reinforces that sense of belief in getting over the line.”

Finding a way to get over the line was a sentiment echoed by Mark Bergin.

“Winning tight games has been the hallmark of our team this year,” he said.

“We were seven or eight points down inside the opening 10 or 15 minutes so we had to battle back in tough conditions.

“It’s hard to put into words but we’re into an All-Ireland club final in the middle of January and this is what dreams are made of being honest,” the captain added.

“I’m so happy to be part of it all and so happy to share a dressing room with that group of players and management.”