Rovers U19s ready for Cup final
U17S TAKE ON WATERFORD IN MARK FARREN FINAL
LISTENING to Danny O’Leary and his Rovers U17s the excitement is palpable ahead of their tie this Saturday with Waterford in the Mark Farren final. They are one step away from Cup glory when they travel to Waterford for Saturday’s 2pm kick-off. The team, which includes players as young as 15 years of age have shown enormous commitment and their hard work is paying off having reached Saturday’s final.
The players are ready and know what’s required of them this weekend. Captain Liam Kerrigan from Tubbercurry said: “It’s an honour and obviously a massive game if we could get anything out of it at least we’ll have an All-Ireland winning medal in our pocket. We have never played Waterford before so it should be a good game, we don’t know each other so it should be open,” he added. Kerrigan also trained with the Rovers first team during the summer so his calibre speaks for itself. “It’s a step up really but nothing out of our depth really.” Vice-Captain Ryan Smith said the Cup game against Shelbourne was very tight. “Thanks to Lorcan (Callaghan) we got through to the next round. We played Derry then in the semi-final, it was a tough game all the same but the boys stuck in and got through it. There was a big crowd from Derry that would have given them a lift. We stuck to our task and got the job done in the end,” he added. “We don’t mind having to travel to Waterford. I personally enjoy playing in other oppositions’ pitches. It will be a great experience and All-Ireland finals don’t come every weekend, so hopefully we’ll get the job done.” Goalkeeper Luke Nicholson said the League began well but the side lost four recent games. “We were doing well but the last four games we lost so we’re out of the top four but we still want to win the Shield and keep going. The Shield works from fifth down to eighth so we want to win that.
“We had a great start to the League. We went to eight games on the bounce without losing and then we lost the last four. So we’ll pick it back up again and win the Shield and the Cup,” Nicholson said. “That would be a lovely way to finish off the season.”
Rovers U17s manager Danny O’Leary said preparations have been going well ahead of Saturday’s Cup final with a number of League games taking place in between. “We had an okay result against Dundalk a 1-1 draw. I think the Cup final was sort of on the players’ minds as well for the concentration which was probably not in the League games but they came around to themselves the last few weeks. There’s been a good buzz even in training, it’s starting to hit home that they’ve got to prepare really, really well for his because it’s a huge game.”
The manager said the work put in has been immense by his team.
“The lads that we have in now, there’s eight of those lads that have been with us for the last three years at U17 level. We’re training two nights a week, sometimes three, depending on whether we’ve a game. So it’s a lot of hours, lot of travelling in to prepare to play against the best players there is around the country. It’s been a long journey and we’ve had some good days and some bad days but they’re a good group. The younger lads that have come in are a breath of fresh air.” He said it’s a lot of commitment from his players. “Fair play to them coming all the way in. Some boys from Belmullet, some from Westport, Mayo, a lot of Sligo lads as well. They all want to try and get to the next level, so they’re willing to put that commitment in.
“It’s a really close-knit group. Even the boys who are now with the U19s, it’s like they’re still part of the group, they’ll chat away and will come over and ask how the boys are getting on. It’s a brilliant place to be at the minute with the underage set-up,” he added.
The manager explained they haven’t that much information on Waterford, especially taking into account it’s the Northern Section and the Southern Section, they wouldn’t come across them at all. “Obviously we’ve looked at the results, they’ve only lost one game all season so they’re a decent side. They beat Pat’s who would be the best team in our Division and they are obviously a very good side. We don’t know a whole lot about them other than that,” he explained.
O’Leary said it will be a great test for his side. “I think it’s brilliant for football especially for us as country teams, Sligo and Waterford, whereas last year it was two Dublin teams in the final, Pats and Bohs. So I think it shows how much we’ve come as well.
“Country sides that are developing players and getting them ready to play at the highest level and be maybe better than the Dublin players and I think that’s a huge thing for us and that’s what we’ve been sort of hammering home to the players that they’re out there representing Sligo Rovers, your families, and to be from the country end of it I think it’s brilliant. For a long time it had been dismissed that the Dublin players were sort of seen as international players but the country players are now catching up with them,” he pointed out.
O’Leary said the group are so young and naturally are going to be excited about playing in a Cup final. “These lads are only 15, 16, 17,so they are going to be excited about it. That adrenaline is going to be there. It’s up to us to keep them grounded a little bit and keep them concentrated.”
Coach and former player Colm Jinks said it’s about making sure the players have the right preparation ahead of games like these. “I think it’s a challenge for Danny, Niall (Harrison) and myself to just give our experiences of being away, nutrition side of it, etc, to focus on getting the heads right. Because they are such a good group of lads, they will take care of themselves and we’ll give them advice when they need it to focus on the game ahead,” he added. “It’s great for them that they’re getting the recognition and we’re lucky enough that we have so many good players and it’s a credit to them, their families at the commitment they give coming to training from distances. It’s great that they are getting the recognition for that.”
O’Leary said there are many text and calls from fans wishing the U17s the best. “Sligo Rovers is well renowned for Cup football and this football club loves a Cup final in the Aviva but I think for these boys now, they’re tasting it as well which I think is brilliant.
“It gives them that sort of real I want to be there with the 19s, I want to be there with the first team, I want to be at a Cup final with all the teams. I think there’s a good few of them who have been to Cup finals as Sligo Rovers fans. So we have to start somewhere and we’re starting with the U17s which is a huge achievement in itself. Hopefully then they go onto the U19s and then the first team as well,” he added.