Captain Quinn glad to write a new chapter

LONG renowned as a club with a great past, St Vincent’s is once again an outfit with a sparkling future.

All their lives, this group of players have had to listen to tales of Keaveney, Mullins, O’Driscoll, et al.

The photos of the old greats stare back at them every time they enter the Marino clubhouse.

Now, finally, another chapter has been written in a history that had stalled for 23 years and captain Tomás Quinn is thankful that the club will no longer have to live in the past.

“There’s a great history in the club, but I think we were all sick of hearing about it,” said ‘Mossie’. “The pictures on the wall are all black and white — or bad quality colour — so it’d be nice to move them down the wall. We won’t move them off, but just bump them to the side and make room for us.”

Coach Mickey Whelan was reluctant to go along with talk of a new dynasty being born. But he did accept that the age profile, talent and temperament of his players offered an ideal breeding ground for the years to come.

“We will enjoy everything as it comes,” said 24-year old corner-back Paul Conlon. “It’s nice to think that we have the chance to build our own dynasty. We have been off the footballing map too long in this country.

“It’s about time we were back there. We are a young team with some good years ahead of us.”

Whelan admitted his side would not have had the character or temperament to withstand Nemo’s second-half surge 12 months ago and the Dublin side’s mental strength was apparent in two obvious ways.

Most visible was the input of Quinn who scored three points after the break, two from play and one of which the very definition of a ‘captain’s point’.

More poignant was the input of Pat Kelly, the wing-back from Mayo, who played the full game despite the passing of his father just the day before.

“It had to be extremely difficult, but Pat Kelly is Pat Kelly and he turned two vital games for us during the year,” said Whelan. “They were his father’s wishes that he play the game today. It is just a very difficult occasion, but it is a marvellous way to celebrate his father’s life.”

Whelan has constantly played down his role in the rebirth of Vincent’s but his career has been a chain of successes broken only by a traumatic spell in charge of the Dublin side in the 90s.

A winner on both sides of the touchline for over half a century, where does this latest achievement rank in his personal highlights reel?

“I was nearly going to say redemption … for me it is great to take a group of young people and see them grow. That is just phenomenal. We can’t go into the transfer market, but three or four guys joined us this year and they have been immense in our team. They fitted in as if they were born in Marino, never mind Dublin. I have the height of praise for them.”