Sean Treacy says that last night's triumph in the Bord Gais Energy Leinster U21 final was the culmination of a year's hard work and sacrifice.
Speaking to Newstalk Sport's Oisin Langan after last night's game, man-of-the-match Treacy was jubilant after his side's success.
"Word's can't describe it," he said, "With all the work that went in, I thought in the first half we didn't do ourselves any justice and we were four points down at the break. In fairness to Joe [Fortune, manager], he let us have it in the dressing room. We came out and I think we showed what we were working on all year."
The final scoreline perhaps reflects poorly on Offaly, who produced an excellent first half performance and Treacy was quick to credit their opponent's efforts.
"I have to say fair play to Offaly. We came down here and we knew we were going to get it tough and they gave us as much as we could take in the first half."
The second half saw Treacy himself net twice, the second of which a superbly improvised finish after shaking his marker and volleying hard past Offaly goalkeeper, Eoghan Cahill. So what was the message at half time to spark such a revival?
"The instruction was to just go out and do what we've been doing all year. We knew we hadn't done ourselves justice in the first half and [Joe] just told us to settle down and relax. I think we did that in the second half.
"In the second half the onus was to put the ball on the D and use the space. In the first half we hit their sweeper a lot which in fairness he mopped up and took as much as he could get. I think in the second half we used the ball a lot better, space was created. It was just better."
Sean Treacy scores his second goal of the game against Offaly last night in Tullamore. Image: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
The two goals came as a product of his role in the second half, Treacy moved deeper to pick up ball and try to influence the play in any way he could. The title itself, Treacy says, was deserving considering the effort that had gone into the campaign as a whole.
"Last year I think was tough on us but I think we've rebounded in the best way possible. I'm delighted for the backroom staff and all the work that they've put in and I'me delighted for the lads as well."
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