Mark Hanratty of Patrician Carrickmacross, Monaghan, ahead of their Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools B Football Final against Roscommon CBS during the Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Finals Captains Call at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
The Patrician High School Carrickmacross team that contests Sunday’s Masita GAA Post Primary Schools Paddy Drummond Cup (Senior B Football) Final are a powerful example of why you should show resolve in the face of sporting adversity.
This group of players didn’t win a single match of football in first year, second year, or third year, and when they finally broke their duck in fourth year it was one solitary triumph.
But they stuck together, kept working hard as a group, and have been rewarded for that application by reaching Sunday’s Final.
Team manager, Dylan McEnaney, is a former pupil of the school himself and is hugely proud of the character his team has shown on their journey of self-improvement.
“When it came to this year they seemed to just decide to click it on a wee bit and put the foot to the metal,” says McEnaney.
“What's impressed me most about them is that they keep playing to the end. In the Ulster Final we played Carrickmore and it ended in a draw and we never lead in the game. Then in the replay we never led the game until the last 30 seconds.
“They just keep going until the end. In a couple of games in the group and in the quarter-finals we were behind at half-time but it's a 60 minute game not a 30 minute one, and sometimes I've been glad it's been a 62 or 63 minute game!
“We just seem to keep going until the end.
“It’s a small enough school with just over 400 students but we’re very passionate about it. There have been teachers looking after teams for years before me who have laid a brilliant foundation.
“We say we that if we demand high standards we can produce high standards. That's in everything - academics, discipline, football, everything.”
Their opponents on Sunday are Roscommon CBS which is somewhat coincidental because they defeated the same opponents in the final of this very Cup back in 1997.
The Connacht champions have looked like a very good team on the way to Sunday’s Final, but McEnaney is focusing all his energy on his own team rather than worrying about the opposition.
“You just have to look after yourself when you get this far in the competition," he says. "Your main goal at the start of the year is to win a McClarnon, win your Ulster competition, and then it's a shot in the dark after that.
“You find out bits and pieces if you can, but you're just really focused on how we can produce our best. If we produce our best, that's all we're looking for. If that's good enough, then great, if it's not good enough, then that's okay.
“Once we produce our best I'll be happy out but if we could win it would be massive for the school. We've won the McClarnon Cup five times and we've only won the All-Ireland Final once and that was back in 1997.
“I did six years myself in the school as a pupil and this opportunity means a lot. This is where you want to be playing your football. If you're playing schools football in March then this is dreamland, this is where you want to be.
“It would mean the world, especially for these players because as a team they suffered for a long time, not winning a game in first, second or third year and only winning one in fourth year.
“This is a dream for them too.”
Sunday, March 9
Masita GAA Post Primary Schools Paddy Drummond Cup (Senior B Football) Final
Roscommon CBS v Patrician High School Carrickmacross, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 2pm
You can watch a live stream of the match here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIuzvNqlUK4
