Mounthawk captain Ferris says ‘hard work is what can get us over the line’

IT was, without question, the highlight of the year so far. Odhran Ferris became the first ever Mercy Mounthawk player to lift the Corn Uí Mhuirí in just over two decades of trying. Except that rather than take that honour for himself, he beckoned someone from the crowd to join him and absolutely nobody in the crowd in Austin Stack Park that day needed any introduction to Buddy O’Grady.

Caretaker of the school from the first day the gates were opened, the John Mitchels legend coached numerous school teams with the same dedication he has always brought to club and county teams – Buddy guided the Kerry Juniors to a covered All Ireland in 2006 after a twelve year absence. That Tralee CBS gave him a standing ovation says a lot about their school. That he was called up says something about this Mercy Mounthawk team, and even more about the player who wears the armband.

Ferris himself would prefer to downplay the incident. “It wasn’t anything planned. I just saw Buddy there and wanted to bring him up. He is as much or more a part of it than any of us. I suppose technically he’s retired for a couple of years now (since 2017) but he’s still there in everything. Everyone loves him. He’s always up for the craic and he’s always there encouraging people and he’s a legend to the players and to the whole school.”

Ferris wears the armband vey proudly and appreciates both the honour and the trust, but it isn’t any burden on him. “It’s almost a bonus in many ways. I’ve always said that we have fifteen leaders on the field at all times; the boys who come on are leaders in their own right as well. It’s all about a team effort.”

One could have forgiven Mounthawk for milking the celebrations after their historic win, but in fact their thoughts turned fast to the road ahead.

“We always believed in ourselves really,” explains Odhran. “It was a matter of believing in ourselves from the start of the year and keep working hard. That hasn’t changed. There’s always stuff you can improve on. We actually made a poor enough start to that game. Thankfully we came back, got ahead at half-time, which was very important, and we just managed to pull ahead again late on to win but yeah, there’s always stuff we can improve on.”

Naas CBS went into the All Ireland semi-final as strong favourites, but in a way that actually worked in Mounthawk’s favour.

“The Corn Uí Mhuirí final was a lot harder in terms of pressure. It was the first time we were in that final. To be fair, I think we were actually more relaxed against Naas.”

“None of us have ever played in Croke Park and I’d say the feeling hasn’t really sunk in yet. I suppose when we are there we might get a little bit of a shock but look, it’s a great opportunity for everyone here. None of us have ever played there and it’s a dream for any player to play on that pitch.”

Mounthawk might have only just won their first Corn Uí Mhuirí, but there is no lack of sporting pedigree within its halls and the football team can draw confidence from that.

“Definitely,” acknowledges Ferris. “Even this year, the school has been having a great year in sports. We’ve played in four basketball finals this year and won an All Ireland, while the girls were in a Munster football final last year, and that really brings on our football team as well.”

A lot of this Mounthawk team have played senior for their clubs as well and that has been a valuable learning curve in itself. “”Definitely. You’d be marking the likes of Eric Leen, Stephen Leen, Brandon Barrett… all of these lads have strength and power and they would be very good man-markers as well, so competing against the likes of them helps you when you are playing with the school.”

If Naas CBS were the favourites going into the semi-final, the same is even more true of the holders Omagh CBS and Odhran and his team-mates know that. “They have a great tradition and they won the last one as well, so they’ll be looking to retain it and the pressure will be on us to beat them. The bottom line is to perform ourselves. .”