Jocks have unfinished business
THERE is a feeling in the Naomh Mairtin camp that they have unfinished business after winning through to face Newtown Blues in the MFC Final for the second consecutive year.
An epic two-match decider 12 months ago was only settled after extra time the second day as the Drogheda side eventually prevailed 6-12 to 2-15, but that experience should stand to the Jocks as they try to deny the Blues a famous hat-trick.
‘Painful, heartache are my memories of last year,’ admitted the Mairtins’ coach/ manager Raymond Lambe this week.
‘But no Mairtins team have ever won a Minor championship on their own, so for us to get there was a great achievement and we were up against a very, very good Blues side.
‘We lost five lads from that team, so pretty much all the panel would have experienced last year’s final and we will be under no illusions as to the task facing us next Sunday because they are a serious outfit.’
The Mairtins have had some tough games to reach this stage, requiring a replay to see off St Kevin’s before overcoming a fancied Cooley Kickhams side by 2-12 to 1-10 on Wednesday last.
Looking back, Lambe said: ‘I suppose the first game against Kevin’s, we got lucky in the end. We were ahead for most of the game and got caught late on and went behind in injury time, but a bit of luck and hard work got us a replay which we won comfortably enough.
‘It was a really, really hard game against Cooley who would have been down as one of the championship favourites, but when you get to the knockout stages they are always tough games.’
While the Blues boast an unenviable forward line, the Monasterboice team aren’t short in that department either and can look to the likes of Sam Mulroy and Conor Whelan who lined out in the thrilling two-match SFC quarter-final duel with St Mary’s a few weeks ago.
The challenge of taking on the all-conquering Blues again, this time in the curtain-raiser to the Senior decider, is one that the squad and management team are relishing.
‘They were two great games last year,’ reflected Lambe, ‘and it will be a big, big day next Sunday. It’s a great occasion for any minor team to play in front of the Senior final and we would not have experienced that end of it last year.
‘We are looking forward to it, but we will keep our feet on the ground and hopefully we can stay focused.
‘Not to get carried away, it would be a huge achievement for us to win and very satisfying, having been beaten last year.’
Win or lose, the Mairtins feel that they are now in a better place in relation to their longer-term goals.
‘There’s been a lot of work done behind the scenes over the last 15 years to try and compete at the top level in the U-14, U-16 and U-18 age groups, and it’s not easy,’ Lambe pointed out.
‘We want to bring lads through from a young age, get them to enjoy playing for Naomh Mairtin and guide them through to adult football, because ultimately our goal is to win Joe Ward one day.’