The Sem is ready for McGirr final

MCGIRR CUP FINAL St Brendans College v Mullingar CBS Saturday, March 31 Galtee Rovers GAA, Bansha 3.30pm

AFTER all the drama and excitement that came with Pobalscoil Corcha Dhuibhne’s success last year in this competition, the challenge now is for St Brendans College Killarney to match them and keep the Paul McGirr Cup in Kerry for a second successive year when they travel to Bansha to face Westmeath’s Mullingar CBS on Saturday.

This is the fourth consecutive year that the Killarney School have been in an All-Ireland schools final taken with the Paul McGirr Final of 2015 and the last two years Hogan Cup finals.

Manager Kieran Herlihy acknowledges a strange paradox with that defeat by the School in this competition to Good Counsel of New Ross.

“The one thing with losing that Paul McGirr Final was it drove the team on to the Hogan Cup successes afterwards so that’s why I think it is remembered so much, maybe much more than if the team had won that year,” the Sem boss said of 2015.

Herlihy is happy for Corcha Dhuibhne to have gone down as the first Kerry winners of the competition but says the sole focus is on this group ensuring there are the first side from the Killarney nursery to do so.

“This is a very responsive group and I think the All-Ireland semi-final with St Pats was a bit of a culture shock in one way with some of their decision making and shot selection.

“You have to remember though that it was the first time they had played at All-Ireland level because the furthest the competitions they have played up to now between the school and the development squads has been provincial level,” Herlihy said.

Team selector Micheal Ó Donnabháin has noticed a pattern with the campaign in general meanwhile.

“A lot of it has been in wet weather and our victories have been down to hard work by and large. The good thing that they players are showing though is that they have the skill set to adapt. Our backs thankfully have not let us down and the players have stood up from us in doing their job,” the Sem selector said.

The team is captained by Killarney Legion’s Kieran O’Donoghue, a player who has represented Kerry South at development squad level from Under 14 to Under 16 and is also in the squad for this year’s Kerry minors. While he says seeing the Hogan Cup victories is inspiring for the group, the team has its own objectives.

“We set out to win the Frewen Cup ad knew it would be hard with the standard of teams in it. Tralee CBS getting knocked out was an eye opener but it sharpened our minds for playing Bandon in the semi-final.

“The one thing we have been doing is grinding teams down and being patient because we know the gaps will start to come to get through their defence. We’re used to playing with each other through East Kerry (County U-16 Champions last year) which is a big help for this as well,” the Sem captain said.

The Sem defeated Intermediate School Killorglin and Hamilton High School (Bandon) in quick succession back in January before they defeated St Flannans in a tricky Frewen Cup decider in Duagh the day before the onset of the ‘Beast from the East’.

Their team manager is big on what he side can take control of in preparing for Saturday with Mullingar only being confirmed as their opponents one week ago.

“Shot selection is something we have looked at, but the one thing about the St Pats game that I was happy with was how the lads kept persisting with it despite some of the chances they were missing.

“The players certainly haven’t been idle in waiting for Mullingar to come through with the County Minor League games some of them have had in the meantime so we have no qualms about the wait.”

The memory of the School’s defeat to Good Counsel three years ago where a side featuring David Clifford, Dara Moynihan and David Shaw where defeated by a Thomas O’Connor (who signed a professional soccer contract with Southampton soon) led side will serve as a historical reminder to this present Sem side about the dangers a match at this level can present.

This is historic for Mullingar themselves it being their first ever All-Ireland Final and they won’t fear taking a big scalp after defeating sides from Dublin and Galway to get here.

The Sem have genuine match winners in Emmet O’Shea, Dara Donohoe and Dylan O’Callaghan however as well as a good presence at midfield in both Michael Lenihan and Eoghan O’Sullivan. Liam Spillane, Neil O’Shea and Evan Smith provide good defensive alongside their team captain O’Donoghue as Niall McGuillicuddy can put frees over the bar.

Always trickier to predict what can happy in these matches the younger down the line you go but if the Sem can gel and click, it will take a hell of an effort from Mullingar to take the McGirr Cup out of Kerry.

Verdict: St Brendans College