'We’ll go again and do our best for Laois'– Johnny Nevin on guiding Park-Ratheniska to IFC glory

In the aftermath of Park-Ratheniska’s 3-10 to 0-10 victory over Arles-Kilcruise in Friday evening’s Laois Intermediate Football Championship final, manager Johnny Nevin was asked for his reaction to guiding the club back to the senior ranks.

He spoke with pride about the resilience of his panel, their commitment through setbacks, and the contributions of both present and absent players.

“It's great to hear it and great to feel it. I have to say they’re a great bunch of lads. I have to be honest about it, when we were going through the league and we were having injury problems and we got relegated, but you know what, the lads never lost faith in what we were trying to do. We always said all year that the aim was going to be the Intermediate Football Championship and we'd get back up to senior where we were three or four years ago. To a man, they were there every night, and they worked really hard. Lads who were injured applied themselves and got back on the field. 

“I have to say a big thank you to Simon Fingleton, who was injured all year. He's a great club man, he was at training, he was encouraging lads and he gave that kind of sense of, he was with us all the way, and to Brian (Fingleton), who played centre-back last year, he's in Australia. But lads stepped up, lads who came out of minor came up and got their chance and took their chance,” Nevin said.

Despite holding a nine-point lead at half-time, Nevin was mindful that Arles-Kilcruise would fight back. He reflected on the first-half performance, acknowledging the goals his side missed.

“I was happy enough because I would have taken maybe a four or five-point lead with the breeze. But listen, we probably left three or four goals behind us, but you know what? We were still nine points ahead. We knew what was going to happen; we saw what Arles-Kilcruise did against Kilcavan. They're a very proud club. When you have David Conway, Kevin Meaney and Ross Munnelly on your team, you always have a chance, and young McElroy as well. They came at us, and they got it back to five points. We got a very important score from Kieran Delaney, who wasn't playing last year but played this year. So it was brilliant to have that,” he said.

Looking ahead to the AIB Leinster Club Intermediate Football Championship in November, Nevin reflected on the pride of representing Laois and drew on his own experience of winning a Leinster Junior title with Park-Ratheniska in 2006.

“When we were looking at this year, we said if we're lucky enough to be able to represent Laois, we're going to do it right. So don't you worry, when we’re finishing celebrating in the next few days, we'll be back down to work, and we're going to go for it. One of my proudest days was winning a Leinster Championship with Park-Ratheniska in 2006. The lads realise that those chances don't always come, so when you get it, grasp it with both hands and don't you worry, we'll go again and we'll do our best for Laois,” Nevin ended.

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