At half time in this Intermediate final four points separated the sides with Belnaleck trailing Irvinestown, and they looked like a team who was on the verge of their dreams being shattered.

The turnaround after the break was quite something however as Belnaleck completely dominated the second half outscoring the Irvinestown men 1-10 to 0-02.

For manager Colm Bradley however, it wasn’t a case of any magic wand being waved in the changing rooms.

“We just spoke very honestly about how we had played. I know people will think that the occasion got to us but I was genuinely very happy with the way we had played in the opening ten minutes but we just didn’t get the scores,” Bradley stated.

“Sure, we fell away after that and made some mistakes and people will talk about the turnovers but they came about more because there was no support for the man on the ball. It is very easy to blame the man on the ball but nine times out of ten it is not his fault.”

Belnaleck were a different animal in the second half and it came as no surprise to their manager, who saw a steely determination in his players eyes leaving the changing rooms.

“I find when a team wins the management gets too much credit and when they lose probably too much blame. The truth is if you are lucky enough to win trophies you need the players pushing things on as much as management. They are the ones who have to do it on the pitch and they told each other they were not going to have any regrets after this game. And they played that way in the second half.”

It has been a remarkable rise for the Belnaleck club who have went from junior to senior in the space of 14 months and Bradley explained that he was humbled to have been involved this season:

“It is a terrific club and I’m proud to be involved. A lot of work is going on at committee level, a lot of work going on at underage and a lot of work going on at adult level. There is ambition there. To reach the senior championship was a two year goal. We are there a year early and we have to try and kick on from here.”

And speaking of kicking on Belnaleck have a promotion play off at the weekend with Teemore followed by an Ulster club preliminary round looming on October 21 and Bradley wants his side back down to earth for those challenges.

“I’m a firm believer in celebrating and enjoying successes in the moment. But the moment then passes. We can look back at the championship win at the end of the season and enjoy it some more. But we have to be right for Teemore on Saturday, who will be a huge and very different challenge. Then we have to get ourselves ready for the Derry champions and making sure we perform in Ulster.”

In conclusion Bradley wanted to thank those around him this season:

“The guys with me in the management team have been great. Aiden Gilroy and Aaron Quigley make the whole thing a lot less stressful. But ultimately this is about the players. They are the ones who have made a little bit of history here. If I have learned one thing in the last four or five years it is that you can help someone have belief in themselves but you can’t coach character. That’s either there or it isn’t. These boys have character.”