Collins praises 'resilient' Teemore after another title win

The Shamrocks were without key player Eoin McManus, but still managed to come out on top by five points in the end.

It’s the second trophy they have won this year after defeating Derrylin in last year’s intermediate championship final.

“Look, it was great to get to that stage, being in the final, after beating Tempo and getting over that game was the main objective, we wanted to get up,” Collins said on the win.

“And when you get to a final you want to go there and you want to win them. So, it was nice to get a bit of silverware, there are years when you win nothing, we’ve been lucky in regards to the championship last year and the league this year, so, it’s good to get it.”

Teemore trailed by four points at one stage in the first-half but ended the half strongly to go in level at halftime.

“They are a resilient bunch and they really didn’t panic, look, that has happened throughout the year, where they just grinding away and keep working, and thankfully, it came good in the second half,” Collins added.

“It was a good second half and we just got scores at the right time to win the game. I couldn’t ask for much more of the lads, they have put in a serious effort, the experience of last year in the championship stood to us again yesterday and being in that position before.

"Listen, senior championship is a whole different ball game in regards to opposition there, we will have to step it up another gear there and try our best to compete at that level, that will be the test.”

Collins realises the importance of playing Division One football if this team are to contend in the senior championships in years to come: “Well if you're thinking about winning senior championships, you need to be playing against the top tier teams and getting experience from that, week in week out, and matching up to them.

"It's massive to get up to Division One for that reason, so, we’ll see how we get on in the championship first.”