By John Harrington

The one thing you can safely say about the Abbey CBS team that will take to the field for Saturday’s Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior Football ‘B’ Final against St. Joseph’s, Donaghmore is that they’ll give it absolutely everything they have.

They’ve shown tremendous character to make it this far, coming through a hugely competitive Munster campaign and then defeating Connacht champions St. Attracta’s after extra-time and penalties in an All-Ireland semi-final they once trailed in by nine points.

It’s no surprise then that when team manager Sean Mullins talks about his players he does so with pride in his voice.

“Yeah, character is the one thing the boys have in spades and we're very, very proud of them for that,” he says. “We knew at the start of the year that we had a decent side.

“Every round of the championship was knock-out and our first game was the game we won by the biggest margin, and that was just three points. And going into the last seven minutes of that game it was a draw game and our boys showed great resilience to win it from there.

“The character they have was emphasised by our All-Ireland semi-final win when we went so far behind but we were confident in the boys even despite that bad start.

“We finished the first half strongly and that showed the lads there was a way to get back into the game and we knew that once we gave ourselves a fighting chance going into the last quarter we'd be there or there abouts.”

Some will say that semi-finals are only there to be won and it doesn’t matter how you get the job done, but you can be sure that every Abbey CBS player who was involved in their win over St. Attracta’s will have fond memories of it for the rest of their lives.

They looked unlikely winners when their opponents scored the first nine points of the match, but gritted their teeth and kept plugging away.

Three goals – two in the second-half and one in extra-time – proved crucial, and then goalkeeper Robbie McGrath was heroic in the penalty shoot-out to secure a famous win for the Tipperary school.

“It was a wonderful day for our school community,” says Mullins. “We're coming from a Tipp football community so for these young men to get to play in a fairly iconic football ground like Tuam and to play in front of a big crowd was a great experience. It was a massive crowd because it was such a red letter day for Sligo football with St Attracta's and Summerhill both playing All-Ireland semi-finals.

“And we were overwhelmed by the amount of support that we received from our school community and local GAA clubs. There was a huge crowd from East Limerick and West Tipperary and the boys really bought into that. It was a wonderful day for players and management, just a really enjoyable day that you could take great satisfaction from.

“It was one of those days that you will look back on in 20 years and always remember where you were that day. But, as we said in the dressing-room afterwards, we have drawn a line in the sand on that day.

“Our sole focus is on Saturday because that's what we came for. When we won a Munster championship we said our game was to win an All-Ireland. To win that All-Ireland we had to get over a semi-final, albeit in dramatic circumstances.

“But it is important for us now to refocus on Saturday and the job at hand.”

The Abbey has long had a proud tradition of success in both football and hurling, but it surely helps the promotion of Gaelic games in the modern era that their principal is none other than Limerick hurling manager, John Kiely.

“Yeah, obviously it’s an advantage to have someone like John being involved with us in the school,” says Mullins. “He's a good sounding board we're able to touch off now and again.

“He's brilliant in the sense that his philosophy is that if it's the right thing for the guys then go on and do it. He very much gives us the licence to drive it on and he has great faith in what we're doing in the school.

“Where his role comes in, he provides us with everything we need to be able to go off and provide for these lads. And if we need a bit of advice here and there he's always there with an open ear. We're very lucky to have him.”

A St. Patrick’s Donaghmore team that includes a number of Tyrone county minors will be formidable opponents in Saturday’s Final.

But Mullins is confident that his mixture of Tipperary and Limerick boys can get the job done if they rise to the occasion like they have all year so far.

“We have our due diligence on them and no doubt they've done the same on us,” he says. “It was their first MacLarnon Cup win but the manner in which they came through it was very, very impressive. They have vast inter-county experience in their team and any team coming out of Tyrone with the quality of player they have is going to be very strong.

“They come across as being extremely well coached and play a really good system. In saying that, we do feel that if focus on our performance and the lads play to their full ability we'll be there or there abouts.

“In our last two years of competition we've only been beaten once in Championship football so the boys have that winning mentality in spades. We know we're going to have to perform on Saturday.

“The semi-final was a great experience for the boys, but if we break it down and look at it we know it won't be good enough on Saturday. We can't afford to give a team like Donaghmore a start like that. Because if we do we'll be putting ourselves under unnecessary pressure.

“So, look, we're hoping to focus on our own performance, put in a 60 minute performance, and we've full faith that our lads will be able to take the result if they do.”

Saturday, March 11

Masita GAA Post Primary Schools Paddy Drummond Cup (Senior B Football) Final

Abbey CBS v St. Joseph's, Donaghmore, Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence, 2.30pm.