Mullinalaghta St Columba's Shane Mulligan pictured ahead of Saturday's AIB All Ireland Club SFC Semi-Final against Dr Crokes.
By Cian O’Connell
“You are really into bonus territory now,” Shane Mulligan acknowledges as Mullinalaghta St Columba’s prepare for an intriguing AIB All Ireland Club SFC Semi-Final against Dr Crokes at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
Three Longford titles in a row and an unexpected triumph in Leinster ensures Mullinalaghta have flared to prominence in recent years.
Mulligan, though, is the proud captain of a Mullinalaghta team that is eager to deliver on the national canvas against Dr Crokes, who remain one of the most feared and respected teams in the country.
“Some people would say that you probably overachieved when you look at the statistics and the numbers in the parish and club to be champions of Leinster,” Mulligan admits.
“You are facing into an All Ireland semi-final with absolutely very little expectation outside of our own dressing room. There is no pressure put on us, everyone is happy to see us there and to be part of that story.
“We are delighted now, it is the last four in Ireland, we are one of them, we are really enjoying the occasion and are just hoping to get the best performance we can on Saturday. Hopefully that will be enough to have us in the mix.”
It has been an incredible journey for Mullinalaghta since losing the 2014 Longford decider against Killoe Young Emmets according to Mulligan.
“Definitely, 2014 isn't that long ago and back then all we wanted to do was to get to a County Final, to compete in that,” Mulligan recalls.
“Then to finally win one a lot of lads would have been just so happy with that. People in the parish were just happy to win one, but the dressing room just wanted to kick on to be as competitive and successful as we could.
Shane Mulligan celebrates after Mullinalaghta St Columba's AIB Leinster Championship victory.
“We managed to get back there and when we got into Leinster, we saw that outside Longford we weren't a million miles away from other champions.
“We just pushed on from that and it has been a culmination of the hard work from the three years to get to where we are. It is a great story and we are really looking forward to it.”
Mulligan is adamant about the importance and relevance of combining with Abbeylara in the underage ranks in Longford. Northern Gaels afforded players from Mullinalaghta and Abbeylara to compete at a serious level.
“The underage club Northern Gaels was key because the reality was the numbers are so small within our own parish we wouldn't have had enough players to field a team,” Mulligan admits.
“So you would have had lads to go elsewhere to play underage football or not play football at all. So Northern Gaels gave us a great structure.
“We weren't overly successful, but then a crop of young lads came and they were very successful from Under 14 up. That was key.
“Although Abbeylara haven't got over the line they have contested the last number of County Finals so you can see it benefited them too. Without Northern Gaels we definitely wouldn't have been as successful as we have been.”
Another chief protagonist in the Mullinalaghta story is Mickey Graham, who is still managing the club alongside his duties as new Cavan manager.
Mulligan highlights Graham’s rich contribution accepting that a perfect fit was achieved. “Exactly, I think that is what it was,” Mulligan states.
Shane Mulligan captained Mullinalaghta St Columba's to the AIB Leinster Club title in December.
“We had been competitive, looking to get over the line. Mickey had been involved with clubs in Longford, but it just gelled right. He had great time for the dressing room and the dressing room had great time for him even within the local community it was just a great fit with his personality in the club.
“Right from the get go from the first year there was success and we were building from that. Obviously we were facing into this All Ireland semi, and he had to devote some of his time to Cavan, but thankfully we've been getting the work done.
“We are in a great place, it has been a management team that has just gelled right from the start. It has been a great success story.”
With provincial glory attained the winter was most certainly shortened in the midlands and the anticipation is increasing once more.
“It is starting to build again, there was a nice lull there after the Christmas,” Mulligan adds. “After the Leinster Final it was fairly hectic, there was a lot of media coverage and excitement, but it was a great lift for the parish, the county, and the whole region really.
“Thankfully it settled down over the Christmas, so we got the heads back down training away. It is just nice that it is starting to build.
“I suppose it has been a learning curve for the past few years, even within Longford. We lost a Longford Championship Final in 2014, so it really all started from there.
“We managed to win the first Championship since 1951 and then we put three on the bounce. Over the three years we were relatively competitive in Leinster.
“To get to the final and to get over the line it really was fairytale stuff. It took a life of its own after that with all the publicity we got so it was a good Christmas. It was a fairytale.”
Can Mullinalaghta script one more chapter against Dr Crokes?
