Omagh CBS footballer Ruairí McCullagh celebrates at Croke Park. Photo by Stephen Macken/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
There surely wasn’t a better display of football produced in Croke Park last year than Omagh CBS’ Hogan Cup Final triumph over Summerhill College.
The Tyrone school kicked 6-16 that day in what was a sumptuous display of attacking football that thrilled everyone in attendance and those watching the game on TV from home.
There has been some negative commentary in recent times about the direction Gaelic football has taken and dismay that many coaches are instructing young footballers to think safety first rather than empower them to express themselves.
The fact that Omagh CBS are back in another Hogan Cup Final tomorrow after a series of high-scoring wins on the way to Croke Park shows that this doesn’t have to be the way, that great things can happen if instead you give young footballers the licence to play attacking football.
Omagh CBS manager, Diarmaid McNulty, wouldn’t want his team to play any other way.
“I was a forward myself and so was (team coach) Ciaran McBride so we want the boys to enjoy playing and a lot of our training is based around playing well on the front foot and enjoying playing,” he says.
"Yes, you do have to work the defensive side of your game here and there, but football is meant to be entertainment and a spectacle. Last year things clicked and our forward play became as smooth as anything and everything we tried to do worked.
“This year we've had to work on it a wee bit more but there's been a wee bit of fluidity starting to come over the last wee while. I suppose the MacRory Cup Final we scored 1-18 and I think it was 1-15 from play. When you're doing that there you must be doing something right.
“When you've got a group of boys and you know that there's quality in there, the last thing they want to do is be running in the wrong direction. You save their energy for the front-foot sort of stuff.
“Those boys know that at times they have to do their defensive duties, absolutely, but also save your energy for doing the hardest thing in the game which is to kick the ball into the net or over the bar.”
In attendance at the Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Captains Call at Croke Park in Dublin is Calum Daly of Omagh CBS, Tyrone and Oran Ferris of Mercy Mounthawk, Kerry. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
Reaching a second Hogan Cup Final in succession is an incredible achievement by Omagh CBS.
The team is backboned by players who were victorious last year like Ruairi McCullagh, Eoin Donaghy, Charlie Donnelly, Liam Og Mossey, Callum Daly, and Niall McCarney, but McNulty has done a great job blending those established stars with some fresh faces.
“There's six starters from last year's team and a range of squad players,” he says. “We have five players on the starting XV that weren't even on the panel last year.
“Boys develop at different rates and some of them got exposed to good quality club football over the summer and have kicked on so a real juggling act of boys who were used to the way we were playing and new boys. It's been really enjoyable to coach this group of boys.
“A few of the boys we pulled off the bench to finish games last year are now starters and things like that. They've taken their opportunity really, really well and have kicked on and it's great to see.
“They're a very level-headed group of boys. Even around school the staff would say they're very mature young men. They know that the following week they could be going at it toe to toe against each other in club football. They all play other sports as well which is important.
“They're a real humble group of boys. We have three boys who are in with the Tyrone U-20s and when you step up to that level you can't be saying, 'well, I won something last year', you have to keep putting your best foot forward.”
Their opponents on Saturday, Mercy Mounthawk from Tralee, are playing in their first every Hogan Cup Final, but McNulty is expecting a side studded with Kerry county players to be formidable opponents.
“Very much so. They're a quality outfit laced with Kerry class. I suppose you look at the likes of Ben Murphy at seven, Gary Riordan at two has serious pace. In the middle of the field Daniel Kirby and Cian O'Gara, that's going to be a great battle with our midfield.
“And then the captain, Odhran Ferry and Tomás Kennedy and Paddy Lane in attack. I think that's the one (Lane) we have to worry about.
“2-60 he's scored this year, it's unbelievable scoring really in anybody's books. Maybe he's the next Clifford coming through.
“We're looking forward to the challenge of playing against a Kerry team. We can't wait for the battle.”
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.
