The Mercy Mounthawk senior footballers.
By John Harrington
Mercy Mounthawk manager, Aidan O’Shea, says his team are in ‘uncharted territory’ as they prepare for Saturday’s Masita Hogan Cup Final against Omagh CBS.
That’s true in the sense that the Tralee School are playing in the biggest Gaelic football match in Post Primary schools football for the first time ever, but they go into it with their eyes wide open.
That’s because their opponents Omagh CBS are reigning champions, so O’Shea won’t have any shortage of intel on a team that still has six starters from the side that won last year’s Final against Summerhill College in such impressive fashion.
“In fairness the performance they gave here last year was probably the performance of the year in any competition, inter-county or otherwise,” says O’Shea. “To come to Croke Park and kick 6-16, they were fantastic.
“I know a lot of our lads would have watched that game last year and we would have spoken about it at the start of the year that that was the level that those guys had gotten to.
“We weren't thinking about Hogan Cups or anything like that, but I thought they were unbelievable last year. They were extremely well coached and played really nice football.
“Everyone was on the same page, they seemed to be very positive and everyone was trying to play football and play through the lines and get the ball up as fast as possible. And then they have the forwards to do damage.
“They're similar this year again and we have to be on high alert because they're obviously racking up big scores and are an excellent team. But we're looking forward to the challenge of it.”
In attendance at the Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Captains Call at Croke Park in Dublin were, left, Calum Daly of Omagh CBS, Tyrone and Odhran Ferris of Mercy Mounthawk, Kerry. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
Mercy Mounthawk might be newcomers to this stage, but there’s no doubting their star quality.
They beat both of the blue bloods of Kerry schools football, Tralee CBS and St. Brendan’s College, in the Munster championship, and their team is stacked with players who have represented their county.
Paddy Lane is one of the best young forwards in the country and is ably assisted in attack by players like Tomás Kennedy, Odhran Ferris, and Noah Townsend.
Daniel Kirby and Cian O’Gara are a formidable midfield pairing, while Gary Riordan, Ben and Jack Murphy star in a very mean defence.
They play football in the very best Kerry tradition by getting the ball forward quickly with an emphasis on kick-passing to create scoring opportunities for their dangerous forwards.
Just like Omagh CBS their default setting is to be on the front foot, so we could be in for a treat of attacking football.
“We try to be hard to score against but when we have the ball we try to express ourselves no more than Omagh CBS,” says O’Shea. “In fairness to them, they play a very nice brand of football.
“We try to move the ball very fast and they're the same, really. We encourage our forwards to stay up top and try not to get too defensive.
“Sometimes you have no choice depending on the team you're playing against but when we can we try to keep it open and play good football. It's worked for us in most games and that's the way we want to encourage it.”
They have their homework done on the range of threats posed by Omagh CBS, but the Tralee school’s priority will be to play their own game and trust in their own ability.
More than anything, O’Shea wants his young charges to rise to the occasion and relish the opportunity to play in Croke Park rather than be overawed by it.
“From our point of view we just want them to come up here and enjoy the occasion and play with a bit of freedom,” he says.
“If they can do that, you can't ask for any more from them. We just want to get a performance out of ourselves.
“Playing with freedom is the biggest thing we've been saying to them. There's going to be nerves, just try to manage them. People are going to make mistakes.
“They know themselves that not all of them will get to play in Croke Park again so they want to enjoy every minute of it.”
Saturday, March 16
Masita GAA Post Primary Schools Hogan Cup Final
Omagh CBS, Tyrone v Mercy Mounthawk, Kerry, Croke Park, 3pm (TG4).
Tickets for the game can be purchased HERE.
