Tight battles have bonded St Brendan's

Legion’s William Shine says the number of occasions they have been put to the pin of their collar has strengthened the Kerry schools' squad ethos.

12-2-2022: St. Brendan's College Cian Foley under pressure in the  Corn Ui Mhuiri final against Tralee CBS

Hogan Cup Final: St Brendan's v Naas CBS

As battle-hardened as they could possibly be, St Brendan’s Killarney go into today’s All-Ireland Post Primary SFC (Hogan Cup) Final against Naas CBS at Croke Park (2pm) bolstered by the belief that their difficult passage to the decider will stand to them as they seek to jump the last hurdle.

Having pipped Colaiste na Sceilge by the minimum, and then being taken to extra-time by Hamilton HS Bandon, they surprised favourites Tralee CBS in the Corn Ui Mhuiri showpiece, before coming from two points down late on to defeat a highly-rated St Mary’s of Magherafelt in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Legion’s William Shine, top scorer with nine points in the victory over the ‘Green’ in the provincial final, is adamant that the growing bond within the group since schools re-opened in September, and the number of occasions they have been put to the pin of their collar, has strengthened their squad ethos.

“We’re buzzing, training has been great, our A v B games have almost been like All-Ireland finals, there has been that kind of intensity, we’re just raring to go now. We cannot wait. It certainly hasn’t been an easy path to the final, but I think that will stand to us. No games have been easy, we have been coming through by one or two points, and especially going to extra-time against Hamilton.

“Probably our most convincing victory was against the ‘Green’, but it will stand to us in the sense that, if the game goes down to the wire the next day, we know we have the experience of coming out on top. We’re just looking forward to the game, and our main focus is just on Naas at the moment.

“We have got a bit of a never-say-die attitude so, regardless of whether there is 60 minutes gone, we are never giving up, and that probably stands to us the most, especially inside in the camp. That’s probably our best trait, it’s always ‘next ball’ and never drop the head. We’re just buzzing for Thursday.” 

Like Shine, captain Cian McMahon, defenders Darragh Fleming and Dara O’Callaghan, and midfielder Killian O’Sullivan all lined out for the 2020 Kerry minors in Tullamore last July where they were left crestfallen by Derry’s one-point triumph in the delayed All-Ireland decider. The ‘Sem’ manager Kevin Cronin is hopeful that such experiences help to focus the minds for this crunch encounter.

“They know what it’s like to lose a final. This team, if we take it back in history, they’ve played in five or six finals, and they’ve only won two, so they know what it’s like to be on a losing bus home, they know that it’s not a nice place to be. Hopefully, we can avoid that on Thursday,” said Cronin.

“We feel that the team are in the best position that they can be in. The main thing is that we’re putting our best foot forward. Mistakes can be made at any level of football, we see that at inter-county level, and if there is a mistake in the match, we just have to get on with the next ball, and that has to be our mentality.

“We’re confident that we’re in a good place, we’re confident that we have prepared the best we can, from numbers one to 36, and the backroom, and after this, we’re just looking to the boys, and people might be bored of hearing it, but once they play to the best of their ability, we can’t ask much more from them, and the boys know that too.” 

St Brendan’s are quietly confident that they will have a full squad to pick from. Full-back Rian Colleran has recovered from a hamstring injury, which has kept him out of the last two matches, forward Luke Crowley has suffered no reaction to his comeback appearance in the semi-final, though Charlie Keating is a slight doubt having picked up a mild concussion in training last week.