Louth GAA club | O’Reilly celebrates Naomh Fionnbarra's historic Leinster breakthrough

Naomh Fionnbarra midfielder, Matthew O'Reilly, praised his teammates after a historic afternoon for the Togher club when they defeated Barcelona Gaels in the opening round of the AIB Leinster Junior Club Football Championship at Páirc Mhuire in Ardee this afternoon.

The Louth GAA junior champions were pushed hard by their European opponents but did enough to progress, with a first-half goal from Conor Osborne helping them establish a five-point lead at the break.

O'Reilly admitted the Barrs were not entirely satisfied with their performance but was delighted to secure the club's first victory in the provincial championship.

He explained that making history for the club had been the main objective heading into the encounter, although he acknowledged that improvements would be needed as the competition progresses.

Speaking to the Dundalk Democrat afterwards, he said, “They put it up to us. To be honest, we're probably not overly happy with our level of performance.

“We are going to need to improve as we go on. Today was just about getting over the line, as every game is going to be in Leinster.

“Never mind even the ultimate goal of going and winning it potentially, but for us as a club, we'd never won a game in Leinster. We're the first team to ever win in Leinster. That was the goal, first of all, today.

“We're just delighted to become the first team for Togher to ever win a game in Leinster. That was the goal for us coming into this game.

“We'd done our research on Barcelona. We were watching them on Clubber and everything, so we knew it was going to be a tough game as we expected.”

Challenge

O'Reilly was full of praise for Barcelona Gaels, who provided a difficult test in tough conditions.

“It was a hard-hitting game. We're in winter football now. I know it's Halloween still, but it's winter football. The boys there are some top-quality players. Obviously, we knew about Cormac Mallon, and Conor Murphy from Kells.

“We knew about a few other players coming over. I played with Sam Devlin there in Vancouver and knew the quality they have. For them to come over, it's great to have them involved.”

Experience

O'Reilly also reflected on his own time playing football overseas, having represented clubs in London and Vancouver.

“I was involved in teams in London and Vancouver. Obviously, St. Finnians and St. Clarets. It was a goal for us when we won the London Junior Championship.

“We beat the Intermediate Champions that time and tried to get over to Ireland. To come into the All-Ireland, it's a big achievement, and it's great for clubs that they can get over from Europe.

“It really helps to expand the game because they know how important it is to have those clubs around in terms of the network it creates for lads.

“The support and network, it helps people get set up with jobs, etc. It's great to see them over here as well. I'm sure they're good lads. We might find out later. We've got food upstairs, and we'll find out.”

Ambition

The Barrs will now travel to Wicklow to face Ballinacor in the Leinster quarter-final in two weeks, with another opportunity to progress in their historic provincial campaign.

“We're looking forward to it. It's something a lot of us have never done. Some of us have done it with colleges, etc., but we've never done it with the club.

“We're looking forward to getting on the bus, getting down. We're a really tight-knit group here, so we're looking forward to being able to go on the bus and ge