In attendance at the Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Captains Call at Croke Park in Dublin were, from left, Eoin McElholm of Omagh CBS and James Donlon of Summerhill College.
By John Harrington
Omagh CBS manager, Diarmuid McNulty, is all too aware of the challenge posed by opponents Summerhill College in Friday’s Hogan Cup Final.
That’s because the two teams played one another in a challenge match during the Christmas holidays, a highly competitive game that the Sligo team ultimately won by a single point.
“They have a serious, serious appetite for work,” says McNulty admiringly of the Sligo team.
“They move the ball well. They've some clinking forwards that will need to be dealt with. They have some real good ball-players in the middle third and some fantastic corner-backs. All round, I think they're a cracking team.
“You're no bad team if you get to an All-Ireland Final and they've beat a Kerry team (St. Brendan’s College) in the semi-final that people would have fancied. If you beat a Kerry team you're not a bad team and we expect them to be on it. So we need to match them on St. Patrick's Day.”
Omagh come into this match with a lot of momentum after their highly impressive 4-14 to 0-7 semi-final victory over reigning champions Naas CBS in the semi-final.
They dominated the match throughout and played some scintillating attacking football with nine different players getting on the scoresheet.
“We were delighted,” says McNulty. “When you come out of Ulster you don't know what you're going to face but based on the fact they were reigning Hogan cup champions we knew it was going to be a big challenge. We had the boys well prepared, but you don't know how people are going to react in an All-Ireland semi-final.
“We're just delighted that the boys followed through on the plan and delivered a good performance. You coach things and when they come off then you look fantastic.
“Then there are other times you coach things and they don't come off and you're the worst in the world. We had a plan because they have some high-quality players and we felt like we dealt with them reasonably well.
“When we kept them quiet we had a good platform in terms of our whole group as a team and we scored heavily in a short period of time which gave us the comfort to relax a bit.”
The Omagh CBS Hogan Cup team.
Managing the occasion as well as the opposition will be a test for both teams. The stage doesn’t come any bigger than Croke Park on St. Patrick’s Day so this game will be a mental as well as physical test.
McNulty was here himself as a player back in 2007 when he starred on an Omagh CBS team that beat St. Mary’s CBS, Tralee, in the Final, and his message to the players will be to embrace the occasion rather than fear it.
“Aye, young lads coming out here in Croke Park, it's just a fantastic day,” he says. “There'll be buses, parents, grannies, and everything else. People will be wishing them good luck. It's a big occasion because it's St. Patrick's Day and it's Croke Park, absolutely.
“You have to let the boys realise that it's a big occasion, but also then keep them knowing that we have a game of football to play as well.
“So you have to let them be boys and enjoy it. But also know that we've trained hard all year we just want to get the reward for that.
“But, aye, Croke Park, what an occasion. You want boys to have good memories of the place. I look back fondly on it and I'm hoping the boys will as well.
“You want them to embrace it. As a young boy you dream of kicking a point in Croke Park out in your back garden so these boys will hopefully kick a few of them on St. Patrick’s Day. What an occasion for them to go and show off their abilities.”
Friday, March 17
Masita Post Primary Schools All-Ireland SFC 'A' Hogan Cup Final
Omagh CBS v Summerhill College, Croke Park, 1.30pm
