Villa Rovers claimed a historic win last night, as they defeated Cleary Celtic to win the Bessbrook Cup.
Mark Lennon scored the winner half an hour from the end with a wonderful free kick, and he spoke to the Newry Reporter at full-time, as did his manager Richard Troope.
Mark Lennon scored the winner half an hour from the end with a wonderful free kick, and he spoke to the Newry Reporter at full-time, as did his manager Richard Troope.
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00:00 Richard, Best Brook Cup Champions, how good does that sound?
00:03 Brilliant, brilliant. I thought on the night we deserved it. Stuck to the game plan, stuck
00:09 in the game at half time then in the second half we knew we'd get a chance, took the chance
00:13 and then I have to say after we went 1-0 up I thought the lads defended really well, looked
00:16 very solid. The boys deserved it, absolutely deserved it. I thought on the night we were
00:21 the better team.
00:22 I think it is probably fair to say, clearly you've been unbeaten all season, they've racked
00:26 up some scores, they're the favourites going into this game tonight but what was your attitude
00:29 during the week and going into this game tonight?
00:32 Yeah, absolutely, clearly it's a fantastic team and you know by the amount of trophies
00:36 they've won and John's a good lad and he has them well organised, well drilled and they
00:41 all know their jobs but coming into the game we were quietly confident that if we'd shoot
00:46 up we would get a result and that's the way it transpired on the night.
00:50 Serious effort by the boys wasn't there? There was a lot of cramp, boys going off and sore
00:53 legs tomorrow.
00:54 They were starting that game that night that weren't 100% fit and they stayed on for as
00:58 long as they could. They did their job and got other men on and they came on and did
01:02 just as good a job so it's a great team effort from everybody, the whole squad tonight. So
01:06 I'm absolutely delighted for everyone and it's been a tricky couple of days for us.
01:10 One of the guys who was very close to the team, Brian McIlroy, lost his father so you
01:13 know the boys had that in their mind as well tonight when we went out there. So it's worked
01:18 out really well.
01:19 And when it was 1-0, the boys putting bodies on the line, how long did that second half
01:23 feel?
01:24 It felt about three days but we got the result in the end so we'll not think about that now
01:30 but yeah it was at the time, it was hard stopping stuff.
01:35 And finally, what a way to win a game, Mark Lennon's strike, you'll never forget that.
01:38 Great free kick, I was actually telling one of our players to hit it, I had faith I had
01:43 in him but no, absolutely great strike. I was right behind as soon as he hit it, it
01:46 goes that's in. And fantastic, good main of mine as well so delighted for him too.
01:51 Mark, Best Brook Cup Champions, how does that feel?
01:53 Brilliant, I struggled there at the end, a few boys got injured, it was a real battle
01:58 there at the end but listen, we beat a good team in Clare there so you get a hard battle
02:02 any time you're playing.
02:03 You mentioned that there was serious work there, a lot of boys cramping up, there'll
02:06 be a lot of sore legs tomorrow.
02:08 Must have had three or four boys went off there at the end but listen, we dug deep and
02:12 got the result.
02:13 How long did that second half feel?
02:16 Forever, even the last ten minutes felt like about half an hour so it's great, brilliant
02:20 to get it.
02:21 And I said before we started the interview, you're the main man tonight, you got that
02:24 goal, you'll never forget that.
02:25 Well, they don't come round too often so I'll take it.
02:28 Fair play, that was a serious strike in the top corner, couldn't have placed it any better.
02:32 No, but here, it could have been over to a stand just to stand.
02:35 And to be fair, you mentioned Cleary are a great side, if you're looking at the form
02:39 going into the game, probably a lot of people would have expected Cleary to win the game
02:42 but what was your attitude going into this game tonight?
02:44 We had a game plan just to dig deep and everybody just battled hard but as I say, we had boys
02:49 injured there and listen they gave everything before and off and that's all you expect you know.