▁earlier ▁doub ts . ▁Although ▁caught ▁by ▁W ex ford ▁in ▁the ▁Final , ▁the ▁Model ▁County ' s ▁eight - point ▁margin ▁was ▁not ▁an ▁accurate ▁reflection ▁of ▁how ▁po ised ▁this ▁ep ic ▁game ▁had ▁been . ▁Even ▁so , ▁Li am ▁Griff in ' s ▁tact ics ▁worked ▁as ▁intended , ▁and ▁his ▁team ▁had ▁the ▁self - bel ief ▁to ▁keep ▁the ▁Mid land ers ▁under ▁the ▁k osh . ▁It ▁was ▁a ▁measure ▁of ▁Off aly ▁that ▁( in ▁large ▁part ▁because ▁of ▁Li am ▁C ough lan ' s ▁net - m inding ) ▁they ▁were ▁only ▁three ▁points ▁down ▁on ▁ 6 6 ▁minutes . ▁However , ▁once ▁W ex ford ▁went ▁four ▁up ▁at ▁that ▁stage , ▁they ▁had ▁no ▁choice ▁put ▁to ▁extend ▁everything ▁and ▁big ▁g aps ▁appeared , ▁of ▁which ▁W ex ford ▁took ▁full ▁advantage . ▁Off aly ▁were ▁des olate ▁in ▁defeat , ▁and ▁the ▁team ▁management ▁res igned ▁soon ▁afterwards . ▁ ▁John ▁Mc Int y re , ▁the ▁sports ▁editor ▁for ▁the ▁Con n aught ▁Trib une , ▁would ▁be ▁appointed ▁Off aly ▁coach ▁for ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 7 ▁League ▁and ▁Championship , ▁with ▁select ors ▁Will ie ▁Do ole y ▁( Se ir ▁K ier an ), ▁Jim ▁T roy ▁( L us mag h ), ▁and ▁Se an ▁White ▁( St ▁R yn agh ' s ). ▁Joe ▁Do ole y ▁was ▁Off aly ' s ▁captain ▁for ▁ 1 9 9 7 ,