The Gallen Community School team that will contest the Masita Post Primary Schools All-Ireland 'D' Football Final.
By John Harrington
Gallen CS in Ferbane, Offaly, are one of those schools that consistently punch above their weight on the GAA pitch.
They’re a mixed school of little more than 320 pupils yet they regularly pop up at the business end of provincial and All-Ireland championships.
All-Ireland semi-finalists in the Post Primary Schools Senior ‘D’ Championship two years ago, they’ve gone a step further in the same competition this year and will take on Scoil Mhuire Buncrana for the Br. Edmund Ignatius Rice Cup on Saturday in Markievicz Park.
Team manager, Joe Maher, is a former pupil himself, and in his own day won an All-Ireland Vocational Schools title in 2011 which also testifies to the sporting tradition in the school.
Ferbane is festooned with flags and bunting ahead of the game, and Maher is delighted the players get to experience the buzz because he couldn’t be happier with their application both on the pitch and in the classroom all year.
“What’s pleased me most about them has been their will to listen and to train and to try to play attacking football because that's the way we want to play," he says.
“They're just a sound bunch of men. Inside and outside of the classroom, they're gentlemen. I've no complaints with them at all. We have a bit of craic obviously outside of the classroom with this team and I think it's very rewarding to get to know a lad outside of a classroom because you can flip it and bring that positive relationship back into the classroom as well.
“The balance is really good with these lads. Win, lose, or draw this All-Ireland Final, they're all going to go on and get great Leaving Certs as well. We really try to get a good balance in the school between having your academic side and your sporting side and it's good to have both.”
Successful Offaly GAA teams have traditionally had a potent mix of pure skill and mental resilience, and this Gallen CS team are very much cut from that cloth.
In attendance at the Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Captains Call at Croke Park in Dublin is Sean McLoughlin of Scoil Mhuire Buncrana, Donegal, left, and Conor Grennan of Gallen Cs Ferbane, Offaly. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
Both qualities were very much in evidence in their All-Ireland semi-final win over CBS Dungarvan when they stuck to their attacking principles despite the concession of some deflating goals and eventually won out after extra-time.
“Yeah, it went to extra-time, and we looked around and sort of asked ourselves, 'how badly do we want this?'", says Maher. "A lot of the lads were out on their feet and cramping but they kept going.
“We got a bit of luck with the goals we scored ourselvs at the right time and you need that when you get to an All-Ireland semi-final.
“We played some good football too. All our forwards had scored from play with 21 minutes and we want to play that attacking style of football. Obviously there are different systems and when we don't have the ball we get back in numbers.
“We like to attack and defend in pods. And if we win the game, then great, but if we don't we'll always go down fighting.”
Maher is expecting a very tough match from Buncrana on Saturday, but the Gallen CS approach is to very much focus on themselves and he’s encouraging his players to embrace the occasion rather than be unnerved by it.
“Buncrana came through a tough semi-final themselves and when you're meeting an Ulster team you know they'll play to a system that will be hard to break down,” says Maher. “They're very strong and they work very hard together.
“It could be two different styles coming against each other on Saturday and it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top.
“We're just telling our lads to embrace the occasion. I was a pupil myelf in this school a few years ago in an All-Ireland Final in 2011 and then lost an All-Ireland semi-final the following year and you just have to embrace it and play the game rather than the occasion.
“We've done all the hard work, we've come through a North Leinster and a Leinster campaign and now this is the big one. We had always wanted to get to an All-Ireland Final so let's just enjoy the run up to it.
“We had a media night on Tuesday night with the local newspaper and what we're saying to our lads is this is what it's all about. I've told them they may never get to play in an All-Ireland again so it's important to grab it with both hands.”
Saturday, March 9
Masita GAA All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Br. Edmund Ignatius Rice Cup Final
Scoil Mhuire Buncrana v Gallen Community School, Markievicz Park, 2pm.
