‘It’s just another game for us’- Portarlington captain Ronan Cofffey ahead of County Final

Portarlington's captain, Ronan Coffey, is brimming with confidence as his team gears up to take on Portlaoise in the SFC County Final. With a fully fit squad, Coffey stated that they plan to keep their approach consistent and treat the match like any other.

Keep an eye on the Leinster Express/ Laois Live website and social medias across the week as we bring you interviews from the Portlaoise captain Ben Dempsey and Portarlington manager Pat Roe ahead of the final. 

“All good I suppose. We won't change much at all. It's obviously a county final but it's just another game for us and we'll have to try and keep ourselves a bit level. But you know, it's all good; everything's going well so far,” Coffey shared.

Coffey expressed his pride in being named captain for the 2024 season, calling it a ‘huge honour’.

“It's a huge honour. Pat told me in the dressing room in front of the lads there and look, I probably wasn't expecting it. Keith Bracken there has done a great job the last five or six years and yeah, look, it's a great honour and one I'm delighted with anyway,” he added.

He also highlighted the significance of the younger players on the team, emphasising their crucial role. Coffey mentioned the excitement surrounding the double-header, with Portarlington's minors facing Portlaoise in their final, a much-anticipated match-up for the community, especially since they haven’t won a minor title in seven years.

“You have to have them guys coming up. The likes of Darragh Slevin has been unlucky with injury this year, but he's coming back there now; he's been brilliant. I suppose the likes of Mikey Bennett, Rioghan Murphy, sure, Rioghan has been unbelievable. You have to have lads coming up. It's great that our minors are in a final there as well, which you need. You need lads coming up, challenging lads every year in training because I suppose we've lost a few of the older lads there in the last few years; it's imperative that they're coming up every year, you know. It's going to be unreal, I suppose. We haven't won a minor in seven years, and I don't remember the last time there was a double final between two teams, so yeah, it's going to be unbelievable, especially since it's Port and Portlaoise; there'll be a bit more bite to it. I'm looking forward to it,” Coffey said.

Despite Portarlington’s relegation from Division 1 during the league campaign, Coffey explained that they only started training in March, while many other teams were ahead of them. He praised manager Pat Roe, noting that from the beginning, Roe's focus has been on peaking at the right time for the championship.

“During the league, we kind of lost three or four games by a point, and we kind of felt we were close enough. Obviously, we only went back training in March, so we've always been aiming to peak for a championship. I believe that's what we're doing now, but like I suppose during the league, maybe teams had two or three months even training on us, and we felt like we peaked in maybe June last year. From day dot, that was Pat's message: that we're going to peak for August, September, October. So, I feel like we're doing that now anyway, thank God. Pat's first thing he ever said to us was we're going to win a championship, and I suppose we all looked at him like he was a madman because of the players we lost, and it was kind of a dent to the confidence losing them boys. But since day dot, he has just instilled that into us that we're going to win a championship, and I suppose we're a game away from it now, so we'll see how it goes,” he mentioned.

Reflecting on the championship so far, Coffey highlighted their performance against Ballyroan as the best of the year. Coffey felt that their second-half performance against Graiguecullen was probably their best 30 minutes of football in 2024.

“The first game was against O’Dempsey's; it's always a local rivalry, always going to be a hard game, and all you want to do is come out with a win. Against Graigue, we weren't too pleased with our performance; we still could have nicked it, which just goes to show that we're probably never really beat. Against Clonaslee, we were decent, and it was probably just a matter of winning that game and getting into a quarter-final, and then Ballyroan we only won by two, but it was probably our best performance of the year. Then Graiguecullen again, I suppose the second half was probably the best half of our year. So, we're very pleased with it, and it's going well, thank God,” Coffey added.

Discussing the semi-final, Coffey noted the significant impact of the wind and the importance of timely goals for their success.

“It was a very, very strong breeze. In the first half, I think we managed it very well. We got kind of a lucky goal, but Keith Bracken did well. But I think we held the ball for four or five minutes before that, which was something we probably struggled with the last few years, making rash decisions and rash shooting. So, it’s something we've learned through experience and that. I was very pleased with the first half, and then the second half, we scored some great goals there and we kind of threw Graiguecullen away in the first 10 minutes, which was pleasing. You'd like to think that scoreline would beat most sides, especially against that wind. We knew if we got a few goals that Graiguecullen would probably find it hard to score 2-7 or 2-8 or whatever the difference would have been at half-time. We were very pleased with it,” Coffey shared.

Looking ahead to the final, Coffey emphasised the importance of winning battles across the field and acknowledged Portlaoise's impressive style of play.

“It'll be won all over the field. Portlaoise are going man-on-man this year, and they're playing all-out football, which is admirable. They've probably been the best team in the championship so far. So, it'll be won all over the field. I think every man will have a personal battle with his man, and it's up to each man to win it from there; we're really looking forward to it. I know it's cliché, but Portlaoise have been unbelievable this year. So, we'll have to be 10, 15, 20 percent better than we have been all year,” Coffey said.

Portarlington recently welcomed back Paddy O’Sullivan for the quarter-final and Colm Murphy for the semi-final, and Coffey acknowledged the significant impact of their return.

“Well, look, the boys are inter-county standard players, and getting them back, having Colm come off the bench there against Graiguecullen was a huge boost to us all. And having Paddy back there as well against Ballyroan, the commitment they've shown, the sacrifice they've made has been unbelievable. Colm is the gel in our forward line anyway. He's just such a cute player and brings lads into the game. Even just to have him there, even if he didn't touch the ball, he'd still bring everyone else on 10 or 15 percent more, and I think that happened against Graiguecullen. They've been brilliant for us,” he concluded.

Portlaoise and Portarlington throws-in at 4pm in Laois Hire O'Moore Park on Sunday, October 13.