Super Saints are on the cusp of history

James Kelly and Keith Loughman in the Glenside Hotel in October 2015 and after they grilled me I asked them what was their expectations and Jackser said we’d be happy with an IFC quarter-final. Well, I suppose we have exceeded those expectations at this stage.

‘I think what they meant, they wanted us to be competitive and they wanted us to be involved in the business end. Winning championships, you need a lot of luck and you need a lot of things to go right for you, but you have to be there first to get those things.

‘Get to the business end and then see what happens and that is what we did.

‘We have enjoyed it so much. It has just grown legs since then and it is a testament to the lads that they still have the appetite to go week after week and you see loads of goodwill towards them and that has helped push them on as well.’

One of the trademarks that the Cille’s have shown throughout the campaign is their ability to hang in during times of adversity.

‘At different stages in the Meath championship, as well as the provincial, they looked dead and buried but somehow managed to survive.

‘An awful lot of people are talking about Westport digging out matches,’ Nally continued. ‘We have beaten Arklow by three, Round Towers by two, Rosemount by one and Pomeroy by one, so we have been digging out wins. The difference is, our games have been high-scoring ones, Westport’s have been low-scoring.’

The Cille’s have certainly demonstrated plenty of scoring power against some mean defences so far, and if Graham Reilly, James Conlon, Ben Brennan, David O’Byrne and Niall Ronan get the opportunities then the Cille’s will be well on their way.

It will be interesting to see if Keegan is given the task of picking up Reilly or if the Mayo men will allow their star player a free role.

Manager Nally also spoke of the importance of team leaders and the Cille’s have had them in abundance over the last 12 months.

They will be asked to step up to the mark one last time, and if they can do that and keep the scoreboard ticking over, history is in the making on Sunday.