Cilles all set for their date with destiny
A DUB who donned the red of Louth over many years at the helm of a Meath club - it brings back memories of the Brendan Shine hit Where the Three Counties Meet!
Colm Nally’s passport is well stamped at this stage and the St Colmcille’s boss has enjoyed an abundance of success both on and off the field since he left his home-town club O’Dwyer’s to line out with Newtown Blues in Drogheda.
County recognition soon beckoned for the softly spoken Balbriggan native and there was a steady flow of honours as well, with Joe Ward a frequent visitor to the Newfoundwell Road.
Colm had the honour of captaining the Blues to Joe Ward success and he has served both club and county in a managerial capacity in various grades.
Prior to joining St Colmcille’s at the start of the year he spent two years with Fingal Ravens, a small rural club on the edge of the Dublin/Meath border. The Ravens won the Division 2 title two years ago and then managed to maintain their top-flight status in 2015. No mean feat considering the standard in the capital.
‘There was a lot of travelling involved and I was looking to get something closer to home and the guys in the Colmcille’s club asked me would I be interested,’ Colm explained. ‘Mickey Conlon was stepping down to look after the minors. Mickey wanted to concentrate on the minors and he made a good, calculated decision because they are in the Minor final.
‘I would always be following the Cille’s over the years because of my involvement with Newtown Blues at underage level. Lads that have come out here before me - Colin Kelly, Joe Stafford, Niall Flynn and Mickey (Conlon) - have all progressed the club. You can see that there is something here. They are an ambitious club - they just haven’t got over the line yet.’
The population explosion that hit the east coast is only now beginning to have an impact in the club at adult level, according to Nally.
‘I’d say we are three or four years behind the likes of the Ashbournes and the Ratoaths. Cille’s have strong teams at Under-13, 14, and 15 level and they are hoping that these lads coming through will backbone these present bunch in years to come.
‘A lot of young lads have come through to the adult set-up this year. There are some great minors here and you can see the quality of work that is being done with them.
‘I wouldn’t say that the transition to adult has been easy, but they are quality players and older heads like Robbie McCloskey, David Sheeran, Ian Mullen and Graham Reilly have taken them under their wing and have given them good guidance in training.
‘What young lads do is bring corny enthusiasm to it, they just love it. They haven’t got all these bad days in their heads, they are putting some of the older lads under pressure to hold onto their place on the team.
‘Some of the lads are involved in the Minor Championship and we have a good understanding with Mickey Conlon over that. Its all about communication and keeping the channels open. We’ve never had a problem.
‘When we play the final on Sunday it will give Mickey two weeks to prepare for the Minor final against Na Fianna.’
Bridging a 28-year gap by taking the Intermediate crown back to Piltown will be no easy task, even though the Cille’s go into the decider hot favourites to lift the title.
‘From my background in Louth and being involved in Dublin and then coming into Meath, I think it is a desperately difficult championship to win,’ Nally continued.
‘You have to play at least eight matches to win it. That is a lot. It is like a mini league and the championship starts very early in the year, so you have to pick the team two or three times in the year and that is a very difficult thing to do as well.
‘We were comfortable enough coming out of the group, but we haven’t been comfortable in the knockout games. I don’t know if that is a little bit of fatigue or what, but we have to get the lads to peak again for Sunday.
‘Curraha kind of came in a little bit under the radar. They had James McEntee back and they were probably at their best when
If we play like we did against Walterstown we are in for a torrid day. They know how to play and how to play us and we just have to match whatever they bring.