Naomh Pádraig celebrate with the number 13 jersey of late team-mate, Evan Craig, after winning the Donegal Junior Football Championship.
By John Harrington
Naomh Pádraig footballer, Evan Craig, passed away in September 24 after a battle with cancer, but he’s still a big part of the team.
Before Saturday’s AIB All-Ireland Club Junior Football Final against An Cheathrú Rua his jersey will be hung up in the the Muff club’s dressing-room in Croke Park and all of his team-mates will wear his number 13 on their wrists.
His death made their county and provincial triumphs bittersweet because he wasn’t there to share the experience, but Muff forward Kevin Lynch believes their desire to do Evan's memory proud is a big reason why they’ve reached Saturday’s All-Ireland Final.
“It was brutally tough,” says Lynch of Craig’s death. “When you go in to deep thinking about it, he should be there here with us now. He is in spirit, but he should be here with us.
“I suppose it's hard to take a positive from any death but the positive we're taking is we're going to do it for him. He's carried my ball over the bar or looked after us whenever we've needed him. That's the way we're thinking anyway and we're confident it's working.
“Evan was a gentleman. He was quiet and went about his business quietly but he was good craic too and enjoyed the craic. He would have played inside in the full-forward line with me and I knew if I didn't catch a ball he'd definitely be there to sweep it up.
“It was funny, any ball I dropped I didn't even have to look, I knew he'd be there to pick it up. We had a great understanding together.”
It was easy certainly easy for Lynch to believe that his former team-mate helped him at some crucial moments of their All-Ireland semi-final victory over Kilmurry of Cork which they won after a penalty shoot-out.
With the last kick of normal time he converted a high-pressure ’45 that brought the game to extra-time. This feat was all the more impressive considering he hadn’t been able to practice any kicks off the ground in the lead up to the game because of three broken bones in his foot that sidelined him for most of Naomh Pádraig’s Ulster campaign.
He also made light of the injury when he drilled an extra-time penalty and then another one in the shoot-out to help seal a famous victory for the Donegal side.
“The foot has been a bit of a nightmare,” says Lynch. “I kind of played on with it and then went to get it looked at but didn't rest it and just made it worse. It's been an awkward one to heal but it's well healed now.
“It happened three or four weeks before we played the county final but as we went on it definitely got worse because I didn't get it looked at. After the county final the pain was very bad so I went and got it looked at and then had a bit of a rest and put it in a boot.
“I missed the Ulster quarter-final and semi-final and then didn't know if I'd be fit or not for the Ulster Final but I was able to come in for half-time.”
The coolness under pressure that Naomh Pádraig showed in their All-Ireland semi-final win was all the more laudable consideringt they're such a young team.
Naomh Pádraig footballer, Kevin Lynch, left, pictured with An Cheathrú Rua footballer, Fergal Ó Sé, before Saturday's AIB All-Ireland Club Junior Football Championship Final.
Lynch himself is just 19 years of age and part of a golden generation of young players that are delivering some long awaited success for the club.
“Joe McAuley is our oldest starter at 26 and I think the average age is just 23," he says. "We have three or four experienced boys on the bench and they make up for what's not on the pitch. Whenever they come on they give us a lot of experience and even their final words before we go out are enough to set us off. Their experience carries us through and we really appreciate their influence.
“Underage in Muff has been very strong this past couple of years. Everyone was expecting Muff to be good but it just didn't happen because a few players left and it didn't carry through to senior.
“Us boys who were born in 2005, there's around eight of us who carried through from minor who won a county title and we carried on to senior. I think that boosted the team and brought the numbers up and everyone was fighting for places when we came in, including us.”
A lack of fear has typified Naomh Pádraig’s approach all year and they’re determined to put their best foot forward on Saturday again.
Rather than be unnerved by the prospect of playing an All-Ireland Final in Croke Park, they’re embracing the opportunity.
“It's class,” says Lynch.
“There’s a great buzz about the place you go to the shop for a bottle of water or anything it's all anyone is chatting about. You're not really chatting about anything else to be honest, everyone is going to the match, everyone is behind us, it's great.
“The All-Ireland semi-final was the first match game we fell behind in and it just shows that we can see a game out or we can fight and get ourselves back into a game if we do need the points.
“We're not overconfident, but we would like to think we're confident going into the All-Ireland.”
