Young quietly confident Loup can upset St Gall’s

WHEN Paul Young says he finds it hard to believe that Loup are in the Ulster final, he’s not kidding.

It was something that could not have been even considered just a couple of months ago, not to mention last January, before a ball had been kicked in anger.

But here they are and though St Gall’s will be hot favourites to annex the title, there is a sense that anything is possible for the Derry champions.

Young was involved, along with former Derry stars, Johnny McBride and Paul McFlynn, when these two teams clashed at the same stage of the championship six years ago.

It was Loup’s only other appearance in an Ulster final. They have a 100% record though as a result of that famous day and that is sure to play some part in respective mindsets on Sunday.

Having played throughout the championship, Young missed out on the early rounds of the Ulster campaign due to suspension. He had to make do with coming on as a sub in the final but it is still a day that lives with him.

Nevertheless, there is a sense that this would mean more as he should be there from the throw-in. If anything, belief is even greater this time around, especially after the semi-final victory over Kilcoo, in which Young scored a cracking goal.

“It was valuable” Young agreed. “The ball came in, I got it, turned, got a bit of space. I don’t know if the man slipped, and I just kicked it with my left foot, which is my weaker.

“If I had missed it I would have heard all about it from (manager) John (Brennan). He would not have been too happy had I missed that chance. Lucky enough it just went in.

“It took us a while to get our game going, get men on men” said Young.

“We just couldn’t cope with them for a while, but when Brian (Doyle) was selected to play as the spare man for us, that worked a treat. It was about grinding out a result yet again.”

And there is no reason why Sunday should be any different.

“We have been written off in every game, but all we can do is go out there and work, put in the effort. We will do that in the final, keeping working, and we’ll see how it turns out.”