Farrell happy to put his faith

JIM Farrell may not have coined the phrase, ‘if they’re good enough, they’re old enough’, but he certainly has lived by that philosophy as Naomh Mairtin manager.

Since leaving the Jock’s U-15 management team to take over as the club’s senior boss he has placed his faith in youth, and it’s paid off handsomely.

In hindsight, promoting the likes of Eoghan Callaghan, Conor Morgan, Sam Mulroy and Conor Whelan might seem like a no-brainer, but star minors don’t always blossom at senior level. However, having worked directly with all of the Jock’s young guns, Jim had no qualms about throwing them straight in at the deep end.

‘There’s a good underage structure here and the key is to develop a few players every year and we’ve done that. In my first year Conor Healy and John Clutterbuck came into the squad and then we introduced Sam Murloy and Conor Whelan and this year Eoghan Callaghan and Conor Morgan have come into the team. So it’s a good mix of youth and experience with the likes of JP Rooney, Mick Fanning, Paul Berrill and Stephen Campbell. I think that’s the key to a good group and a good atmosphere within the group.

‘I would have known a lot of the lads from being involved with [his son] Eoghan’s team, so I knew Eoghan and Conor Morgan and the year above that squad I worked closely with John McGrane, Paul McCarville and Graham Mulroy and they had Sam Murloy and Conor Whelan. So I knew the calibre of a lot of these guys and they had no problem making the step up to the senior ranks.’

They certainly proved that last year, winning the club’s first ever senior trophy in the most trying of circumstances and Jim hopes that experience will stand to his squad on Sunday.

‘Winning the Cadinal O’Donnell was a big boost to the club last year, it was the first bit of silverware the club has won at senior level, so it gave the lads a big boost. The next challenge is to try and strive for the Holy Grail, and that’s our