Mal hoping the Gaels can function on biggest stage

AFTER finally erasing a 25-year wait for a county final appearance, Malachy O’Rourke must already be nearing cult-hero status down at The Ramparts.

If he can wipe out that 65-year gap to Joe Ward glory, they’ll be drawing up plans for a statue!

But self-promotion is just not in the Armagh man’s nature and he is quick to deflect any praise or admiration on to his players.

‘I think I was lucky enough to inherit a very good panel when I came in here last year,’ he says as the big day approaches. ‘I don’t think it was that much of a step for them to make the final, to be honest. They’ve been to four semi-finals, so eventually you’ll get lucky in one of them, I think.’

But apart from getting that all-important rub of the green, the Dromintee native suspects that the narrowing of the gap between youth and experience could be the vital missing ingredient

‘I’m only coming in from outside so I don’t really know the history too much. But there is a cohort of fellas that are mid to late 20s there, that have obviously been about for a few years, and have been close to making the breakthrough. But I’m not sure what’s happened this year that’s any different really.

‘They probably learned from experience and the young fellas have definitely come in and strengthened the team up, like Connor Morgan, the Murrays, Chris Sweeney. These fellas have really given us more options, and I suppose people like Barry Watters and Eanna McArdle have really stepped up too. So, adding all those guys into a team that has been established for a number of years has given us a good blend.’

While the Championship was certainly in the back of everyone’s mind at the start of the year, O’Rourke just asked his players to take it one-gameat-a-time. It’s a cliche, but after waiting 25 years for a final appearance, the Gaels have no right to approach the campaign any other way.

‘I would be a great believer in competing in the first division, and pushing towards the top four on an annual basis. I suppose that was our target really, to be getting competitive games that were of a good standard. Last year when we got to the latter stages of the championship it was too much of a step up for us from where we’d been in Division 2. I think any club that wants to really do well in the senior championship, consistently playing against the best teams in the county is the priority, and that’s what you get in the league.’

Reflecting on their journey to Sunday’s final O’Rourke is pleased with the battling qualities his team have shown, bouncing back from a heavy defeat to Naomh Mairtin and de-throning Sean O’Mahony’s albeit after a replay.

But he agrees that Newtown Blues will be a step up again, and while the Gaels prevailed when the sides met in the quarter-finals last year, he’s not reading much into that victory.

‘There was unfortunate circumstances for that match as well, because they had a bereavement in the club, and the match was postponed, so I’m sure that upset their preparations.

‘But they’re a very different team now than they were then. Andy McDonnell is back and the Carrs, and they’ve brought through a lot of good young players, so they’re a much better prospect I think than they were this time last year.’

O’Rourke has obviously done his homework but he insists it’s not the be-all and end-all of his preparation.

‘I think we focus on ourselves all year really, and try and find the best way for us to play football, and maximize what we have and just make sure that what we do as a team is as good as we can possibly do. Obviously you look at the opposition and you try to see where they’re strong and so forth, but we focus on ourselves, and that’s the most important thing.’

One thing the Gaels will be focusing on is closing the game out if they establish a match-winning position. They didn’t do it against O’Mahony’s in the replay and almost squandered an eight-point in the semi-final win over Naomh Mairtin, but O’Rourke isn’t overly concerned by the latter hiccup.

‘It was semi-final and you just want to win, so I haven’t really dwelt on it at all. I suppose I’d look at the positives of that game. I think we played a lot of really good football for the majority of it, probably for 58 minutes of it, and then for the remaining 9 minutes, whatever was played, they probably had nothing else to lose that stage. They went for it, and sometimes that can be to the opposition’s advantage. The Mairtins are very capable of putting 2-4 or 2-5 on the board in the space of 7-10 minutes, so it’s something you would always worry about. They’re always going to get a charge at you, so we were just happy that we got over the line and it’s done and dusted now.’

O’Rourke has been to six county finals as player and manager, winning one Dublin SFC with UCD. The five defeats all came in Armagh to the mighty Crossmaglen, but despite all that heartache, and perhaps because of it, he’ll be urging his players to savour the big day.

‘I think you have to enjoy the occasion. A lot of a players go through their career and never get to a final, and never get the opportunity to play in a county final, so it’s important to take it all in and enjoy it, and not close it out.

‘But equally, at the end of the day it’s a game of football, so we have to be prepared for that. Whenever the ball’s thrown in, nothing else counts at that stage only football.’

‘I think you have to enjoy the occasion. A lot of a players go through their career and never get to a final, and never get the opportunity to play in a county final, so it’s important to take it all in and enjoy it, and not close it out.