Grennan and Dundon celebrate "a great feeling"

Dean Grennan has four senior hurling medals won on the field of play. He has two more where he watched Rangers legend, Frank Foley, do his stuff between the sticks. He has learned a little bit along the way and when Marty Kavanagh bore down on goal in the third quarter, the odds didn’t favour the keeper.

Yet the Rangers net-minder won the mind games and made the block. He admits it was not a conventional save.

“I saw Mouse coming in. He is the last person you want to see coming near you. I took one step to the right. I knew he would go for my left I know what Mouse likes to do but you never gamble too far with Mouse. Look, I was lucky. I dived. It hit me on the shoulder. When I got up the ball was gone out. I won’t take the credit,” Grennan confessed.

All through he was rock solid. One dropping ball in the first half had the potential to do his side damage if not dealt with. He was not found wanting as he grasped the dropping sliotar in his hand and effected the clearance.

“It can be a nightmare with those lights. You cannot look up too high. We were here on Wednesday night. Some of the balls that were coming in, I was looking up and I was getting dazzled. Luckily the trajectory was of the right height and Kevin (McDonald) was outside.” 

Joe Dundon was another of the Rangers big performers. His two points in the first half were vital. He has come up through the underage and this time there was no sign of the curly finger going in his direction. He played the full game.

“I survived. It was getting a bit ropy towards the end but I survived,” he said with a sigh of relief.

“It is a great feeling. Unreal. To get over the line the way we did it. It was touch and go at the end. It was nice to get on the board early on. Then it was a case of plugging away and working hard. I had to help the boys out as much as I can.”

The 22 year old said there was no secret to the victory.

“Just to work hard and try to get onto as much ball as I could. Get on the breaks. Give it to the right man in the right position and let the boys do the business.” He was able to admire what others were doing around him.

“I think Chris (Nolan) got a big score towards the end. The one off the knees was outrageous. When you have players like Chris and Feathers (Eddie Byrne) who win those balls it gives a massive lift.” Dundon says it was an easy decision to pick a player of the match.

“It is hard to look past Chris. A hat-trick in a county final. The balls he wins. The same against Bagenalstown. The two goals he got that day. Unbelievable.”