‘Players shone on the biggest stage of all’- St Lachtain's boss Steven Farrell reacts to All-Ireland JHC win

St Lachtain’s got the perfect end to the club hurling season as they brought the All-Ireland junior hurling title back to Kilkenny once again.

Like Tullogher-Rosbercon in 2024, the North Kilkenny side got the better of Cork opposition at Croke Park and while it got tight near the end, Steven Farrell’s outfit had enough in the tank to seal a 1-18 to 0-16 win over Russell Rovers.

The Freshford boss was elated afterwards but he made sure to heap the praise on his victorious players as they produced their most complete performance of the club campaign.

“It’s brilliant, we’ve been talking over the last few weeks or months about this day and thankfully we have got over this final hurdle.

“We are absolutely thrilled and it’s a credit to the lads. They didn’t show any nerves on the way up on the bus and they were very solid and calm.

“That experience on the field along with the management collective really stood to the lads and what a performance they put in,” Farrell added.

The St Lachtain’s club has gone through it all over the last couple of years from the highs of being at senior level to dropping back to junior and for the Games Promotional Officer in Kilkenny, it’s been a hectic few months with the workrate of his outfit really coming to the fore as they delivered on the biggest stage.

“We had the same build-up as all the other games only we tried to improve on what we didn’t do as well previously but we stayed doing what we do and we do us was our motto and the boys did that.

“We were constantly on about workrate to them as sometimes we are questioned in that regard even though we know the forwards we have at our disposal and their scoring ability.

“The lads put in huge effort at training over the last few months and I’m absolutely thrilled for them all and they really showed their worth on the biggest stage at Croke Park.”

This wasn’t St Lachtain’s first taste of silverware in GAA HQ either as they defeated St Galls of Antrim back in 2010 to claim the All-Ireland Intermediate crown.

Of that squad, Brian Kennedy, John Fitzpatrick, Lachtain Kennedy and Noel McGree are still trucking away as well as the manager himself.

Injuries eventually curtailed Farrell, who was a substitute for the previous All-Ireland win in what was his debut season with the club, but with that setback came the opportunity of coaching and he’s revelled in his role as St Lachtain’s boss and the joy this latest win will give the community of Freshford,

“It’s something different as I was only a young player at that time (2010) and it was only my first year on the panel so you were kind of looking around at the old lads and trying to follow suit.

“Now that you are the manager you are trying to build as you are in charge of everything. The emotion is totally different but, to this day, I still talk about 2010 and winning the county title in 2009. I’m sure we’ll talk about this one for the next 15 years or however long it is.

“These days don’t come around very often for a small parish like ourselves and hopefully we can get more days like this in the future,” he added. “I told the lads in the dressing room to take it all in and let that sink in as you never know when you will be back. We’ll definitely enjoy it for the next while.”

LISTEN TO THE FULL, UNCUT POST-MATCH REACTION HERE OR BELOW: