BRENDAN Rodgers admits last Saturday night “probably wasn’t one of my best” and, statistically speaking, it’s hard to disagree when the guy he was marking scored 10 points.
Then again, that guy was Paddy McBrearty and, on a night when forwards on both sides showed off their skills, he was on fire. On another night, the Donegal star might have dragged Kilcar through to the Ulster final almost single-handed, but with Rodgers sticking to his task the Emmet’s had the firepower at the other end if the field to win by six points.
“He (McBrearty) did knock on quite a few scores,” said Rodgers.
“But credit to everyone else, they did their job and that really helped things. Good players like Paddy McBrearty are going to knock on scores, so really it is minimising that and the effect he can have with bringing other players into the game.”
Marking McBrearty is always likely to be an onerous task and the Donegal Allstar scored five points in either half as Kilcar threatened briefly to dethrone the reigning Ulster champions.
“It is great to be seen as the player to be trusted to do that (mark the opposition’s marquee forward),” said Rodgers.
“It wasn’t one of my best days, but it was great to be there and thereabouts.
“It is enjoyable playing in those sort of games and it is enjoyable marking good players because it will always take out the best in you.”
Slaughtneil had cantered to a 0-6 to 0-1 lead after 17 minutes of last Saturday night’s semi-final, but Kilcar came roaring back at them and held a 0-8 to 0-7 lead at the interval. Rodgers says there was no panic in the Slaughtneil dressingroom during the half-time break.
“We knew we had it in us (to win),” he said.
“We were six-one up so it’s not to say we couldn’t get at them, or get ahead. We maybe were a bit rash at the end of the first-half and invited them on.
“But we didn’t panic at half-time and came out and played the way we know how to play. It showed in the second-half and we didn’t let off and we got a few quality goals when we needed them and it paved the way for the rest of that half.”
Like the rest of Slaughtneil’s dual players, Rodgers will enjoy a rare weekend off to rest up ahead of the Ulster final on November 26. He won’t know who Slaughtneil will meet until next weekend after Cavan Gaels and Derrygonnelly’s Harps drew their semi-final. Whoever it is, Rodgers expects another difficult game as the Emmet’s chase two Ulster titles in-a-row and a third in four years.
“We have played Derrygonnelly and Cavan Gaels,” he said.
“People sort of look down at them, but they have been in Ulster for quite some time. Derrygonnelly pushed us to a point or two last year and they are no bad team.
“Any team in an Ulster final can win and you can’t go in complacent at all.”
If the Slaughtneil forwards find the form they showed against Kilcar – they scored 2-17 and registered only two wides – they certainly have every chance of winning the decider.
“Our forwards are probably an element of the team that doesn’t as much credit because they can get bogged down in tackling back too much that they miss going forward,” said Rodgers.
“But to credit them today, they got both ends done – they were tracking back and Cormac (O’Doherty) was back beside me at one stage.
“Today they got the chance to go forward and show what they can do on the front foot and there are quality forwards there. Brian Cassidy came off the bench, he is a young lad, and kicked points off both feet - that’s a quality people didn’t see until a day like today.”
