By Cian O’Connell

Jimmy Langan kept believing. So did the Naomh Molaise Gaels players. Two Sligo Intermediate Final defeats hurt deeply, but a response was summoned in 2022.

Silverware hoisted and senior status secured. The return to the top tier has been loaded with encouragement too, a decider against Coolera-Strandhill beckons at Markievicz Park on Sunday.

It is a story about resilience and recovering following setbacks. “This is my fourth year, we lost the first final to Curry and then to Farnan's,” Langan reflects. “In fairness, credit to the players, I think we might have one lad, who isn't available or around this year, every player has stuck with it.

“Even this year we lost a Junior A Semi-Final a few weeks ago, every lad on that panel, we still have 35 plus training. They are just a great bunch of lads, you can only pick 26 for games. You have 10 or 11 not on the 26, they are a fantastic group, a very close bunch.

“There is never any hassle, whatever they are asked to do, they do it. It is a reward for all their hard work, not just this year, for the last three or four years. That is why we are in the Senior Championship Final on Sunday.”

Promise and potential existed in the club. Langan has given tremendous service throughout the decades, so to be relevant at the highest level in the county brings equal measures of hope and satisfaction. “We always felt we should be senior, not alone senior, but we should be competing at the top,” Langan remarks.

“When you lose a final and a second final, but luckily enough the club stuck with us and the players stuck with us. To keep it going following last year, we just took it one game at a time this year.

“We concentrated on the league, things went well there and the championship then. It was one game at a time for us, it is fantastic, we have a great bunch of lads.

“We have talent, we have so many young fellas coming through, who are gelling well with the older lads. It is fantastic for the club. Molaise Gaels should be senior, we should be competing at the top and that is where we are on Sunday.”

Langan acknowledges the sheer graft that coaches in the club continue to do in the juvenile ranks. Ultimately that is one of the chief reasons why the flagship outfit is impressing.

“It is, for sure, huge work goes in at underage,” Langan replies. “This is probably the first crop since that started seven, eight or nine years ago.

“We have won two County Minor A Championships, we have won a few U20 A Championships. We are competing in A Championships in all of the age groups. A lot of these lads - apart from a few of the older heads - would have come through the underage system which is fantastic.

“We got beaten this year in the Minor A Semi-Final, so we are still producing players. This year, I think we had four lads on the county minor panel, we are still producing good lads, who will come into the system next year or the year after.

“It is a reward for all of the coaches for the last 10 years - since Bord na nÓg really got going in the club. It is a fantastic reward to see the lads come through to play in the final.”

The club is currently thriving which means the future appears bright. “I'd always be honest about it, we have a good catchment area,” Langan says.

“Our numbers as Sligo goes - we'd be in the top few clubs, numbers wise. Numbers is one thing, but getting them into the club is the other. Even on Sunday in the pitch it was Lá na gClub, the amount of young kids. It is being driven.

“We have a lad from Dublin, who has moved in - Ed Mullane - he is concentrating on it. We have underage football, hurling, camogie, ladies football. We have a senior hurling team, it is a fantastic club.

“Everybody is involved, everybody does their bit, even the colour around the area. As numbers go, we definitely have the numbers to be competing at senior, without doubt.”

With son Michael and three nephews in the panel, Langan knows precisely what this means to the St Molaise Gaels community. “Extra pressure maybe,” Langan laughs. “Michael is playing, I have three nephews - Mark, John, and James Heraghty. It isn't easy for them more so than me.

“I've great men with me - Mark Quinn, a selector, he played for the county, Philly Lang, Ken Murtagh, Deccie Bruen, Lee Porter, they look after who plays, especially with Michael, John, Mark and James - I suppose it does bring that bit of extra pressure.

“We trained on Sunday morning, the amount of colour around. We've waited for so long. I was in charge when we got to a Senior Semi-Final 10 years ago. We wouldn't have near the panel we have now. Before that it was 1978 when they got to a County Final, that time the club was Grange on its own.”

Langan has relished training teams, trying to help footballers improve. That is what it is all about. “For me, I've always been involved,” Langan says. “I was involved at underage, I've done a few other clubs outside my own club.

“This is my own club, I've another lad, Conor, who plays for the club here. You wouldn't be doing it only for you love it. You lose a few finals, it isn't easy to keep coming back, but only for the players backing you wouldn't be putting your name forward.

“This is a reward for the players in the last three or four years. When you lose a final or two, they could easily turn and say it is time for change, but they didn't. They kept at it, they kept working hard.”

St Molaise Gaels’ journey continues. Langan is excited and optimistic. “There is no point in hiding away from it, we'd sing it from the rooftops, this is where we belong,” he says.

“It is great to be in a final, there is no point trying to play it down. It is massive for the club, please God we will be in a few more over the next few years.”

Langan has occupied a central role in the Naomh Molaise Gaels tale.