Maguire confident Young Irelands can rise to the challenge
AIB ALL-IRELAND CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL
DEREK Maguire is hoping his winter sojourn form inter-county football extends well into the spring as Dundalk Young Irelands bid for All-Ireland glory continues on Sunday.
The Louth junior representatives take on the might of the Kingdom in Portlaoise (2.00) with a precious All-Ireland final spot up for grabs.
When he does eventually return to the red of Louth, Maguire will be one of Wayne Kierans’ most experienced foot soldiers, having featured in the ill-fated 2010 Leinster final, but while he has played some big games on the inter-county stage over the years, the forward-turned-defender insists this is a different buzz entirely.
‘It’s different in a lot ways,’ he says. ‘You’re playing here with lads you grew up with and have known since you were no age. It’s great to get to these stages with these lads.
‘You get big games at county level like 2010 and we won a few leagues, but this for me has been the most enjoyable second half of the year I’ve ever had, certainly with the club. It doesn’t really compare if I’m being honest.
‘I’m really enjoying coming to training and it’s the first time I can remember where you’re coming to club training and it feels like a county set-up. The intensity is so high and lads are chomping at the bit to get playing.
‘For a club team, especially in Louth at Junior level is unbelievable. So it’s really enjoyable at the moment and it’s great the lads are getting the exposure to big games. It’s definitely one of the proudest moments I’ve had, but there’s still a long way to go yet, we’ve a big game coming up and Sunday and it’s going to be a massive task but I’ve no doubt the lads here have the guts and guile to pull through.’
Of course, 2018 will go down in Young Irelands folklore regardless of what happens this weekend, but Maguire insists that everything up to now has been a means to an end. Winning county and provincial titles are special achievements climb to the summit, but the All-Ireland is the peak.
‘It was sweet at the final whistle in the Leinster final and seeing the old Irelanders coming on to the pitch was great and you could see they’re proud as punch of all the lads.
‘That to me is what it’s all about, this year especially. Winning the game itself was more satisfying than anything else because we didn’t play as well as we have been all year so to still pull it out of the bag at the Leinster final stage was very satisfying and a bit surreal.
‘But at the same time it wasn’t a feeling of ‘we’ve done our job now’, it was about getting to the semi-final of an All-Ireland too, so we’re always looking forward.
‘It was the same in the Louth final against Tallanstown, it’s great to win it on the day, but the lads were already looking ahead to Leinster even that very day. Our big motivation all year has been the next game, the next game and never settling for what we have.’
Up until that Leinster decider the Irelanders had a proud defensive record when it came to conceding goals, but Maguire insists that the reaction to conceding two in the final might prove invaluable.
‘We hadn’t conceded a goal all year, bar the Kevin’s game in the league. What we were worried about was if we conceded a goal would the heads drop and we spoke about it a lot. When they got the first goal we battled back to get it level at half-time and they hit us with another sucker punch at the end of the second-half, but Aidan Sheekey and Kevin Keelan came on and kicked massive scores.
‘So the strength on the bench is there too which is something we probably haven’t had since maybe 2010. There’s places up for grabs and it’s not just as simple as the last few years when you just turned up on the day of the game and you were playing. It’s great to have that strength in depth.’
With his manager revealing that he put the squad through a tough session in the first game back after Christmas, Maguire revealed that it was nothing new.
‘We have had plenty of hard sessions, not just the one after the Christmas. The three or four sessions after the Leinster final were real lung-busters, but it was just what we needed to bring everyone back down to the earth. But training is good, the lads are flying fit and we’re just looking forward to the game and expressing ourselves.’
Louth may not mix with the Kerry’s of this world at inter-county level too often, but Maguire is under no illusions as to how good Beaufort will be. But it doesn’t faze him or his colleagues.
‘This year we’ve always concentrated on ourselves. We’ve ear-marked a few players that might need a man-marking job, but for the most part we’ve focused on ourselves and it’s no different going into this game.
‘We know a bit about them and I’m sure they know a bit about us. We know they play Division 1 in Kerry compared to us playing Division 3 in Louth. We know they’re going to be a good footballing team and they play a very similar style to the Kerry senior team.
‘We know what we have to do to beat them and it’s just about going out there and not letting the nerves or the occasion get the better of you. If we do that I’ve no doubt we’ll put ourselves in a great position.’
Unlike most of his teammates Maguire has played at O’Moore Park many times over the years, with mixed results, but he’s ready to write a new history at the Laois venue on Sunday.
‘Yeah good and bad memories, but you make your own memories and for most of the lads this will be their first time playing in Portlaoise and we’re going here to make it a good memory. The boys know there’s no tomorrow here so we’ll give everything we have out there. We’ll stick to our gameplan and we’ll do everything for each other to win the game.’
In time the enormity of what they have achieved so far will dawn on Maguire and his colleagues, but by then they hope to have bigger tales to get their heads around.
‘Maybe in a few years we’ll look back and realise all that stuff, but for the moment we’re just heading into another game.
‘Becoming the first team to reach an All-Ireland final isn’t being spoken about. Maybe in a few years it will be, but at the moment we’re just focusing on beating Beaufort and that’s it.’