Tralee CBS manager Mark Ryall says All-Ireland final berth a decade in the making - and hard earned

After beating such hurling stalwarts as Portumna in the All-Ireland semi-final the Kerry school will enter Saturday's decider brimming with confidence

BLUE BLOODS: The Tralee CBS hurlers after their All-Ireland B hurling semi-final victory over Portumna CC. Pic: Adrienne McLoughlin

Their status as two footballing nurseries is well established, so it might surprise some to see Tralee CBS and St Patrick's College Maghera contesting the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Colleges final this Saturday.

One person it doesn't surprise is Green manager Mark Ryall who highlights the transition hasn't happened overnight but with years of commitment and good, honest hard work.

"Yeah, I suppose we've come from playing E all the way up to last year when we played Harty Cup, against two sides who reached the final. 

"Some of these boys here are involved for six years, some of them five years, some of them four years. They would have been involved at U15 D I think, which we won together; we won Limerick under 15 A then as well. They would have been involved in an under 15 B final last year where we lost up in Banteer, which probably still hurts a couple of them and hurts us as well that we left that one after us that day, we kind of felt.

"But yeah over the last 5-6 years we've gone from D Hurling all the way up to A Hurling and then to be in an All-Ireland Final is a huge achievement for these lads. 

"They've put in a huge effort. A lot of people might not know that they would have spent a lot of Friday mornings in the gym. They would have spent a lot of Mondays after school and Wednesdays after school or whatever day was asked of them that they would have put in. 

"So, they could have been 40 or 50 in the gym every Friday morning at half 7 in the morning before classes began. For some of them, it would have meant getting up maybe behind in Kerryhead or outside in Ballyduff, at half six in the morning to be in and no problem with that. 

"They've had a lot of work put in over the years and this is the reward for their hard work. There's no point in myself and Daithi Griffin standing below in the gym looking at ourselves unless you have 40 or 50 fellows willing to put in the effort as well", Ryall says.

And this exact effort signifies The Green have beeen full value for their All-Ireland final berth, an appearance a decade in the making.

"It's been a huge 10 years. I think myself and Daithi were in our first Munster Final in 2017 or 2018. I think it’s something like seven or eight Munster titles we've won together. I think we've lost one and that is the one that hurts most.

"To be involved with these lads is huge. And having great days out, so they're things they enjoy as well. I suppose next week is the ultimate.”

Despite two heavy defeats in the Harty Cup last year - where they shared a group with Thurles and St Flannan’s - Ryall believes his charged have learned just as much in defeat as they have in victory.

"That was a huge experience for the boys. The scorelines might not have done them justice. There was only three points in it at half time against Thurles in the first game and a couple of small margins. 

"I think we had two first half shots at goal against Flannans, Liam O’Connor was a small bit unlucky with one of them hitting the side netting and the other inches wide and it could have been 2-2 to no score after five minutes against Flannan’s had those efforts found the net. 

"It has given us connections too, like even with Thurles CBS, they came down to stay with us for the night and it's great for the lads as well to build up connections with stronger rivals. 

"Even the lads that are gone, Hugh Lenihan for example, have to get huge credit. He's playing in the UL Fresher’s hurling team that won the All-Ireland last week and half of that Harty Cup team from Thurles are playing with him. That's great as well that they're getting exposure. 

"Hopefully some of these boys next year and the year after will be on college teams with lads that are playing Harty Cup as well. They're getting exposure. When you go to college you might have a Munster title or be involved with certain schools, it gives them a stepping stone to get into them teams as well, so they're putting themselves in the shop window for that.”

Ryall hopes the success story of Tralee CBS can inspire and inject some well-needed positivity into the county's hurling mindset.

"Kerry hurling is sometimes, I won't say scoffed at or laughed at, but it's not up there in tier 1, so we're down in tier 2 and the senior team didn't do that well last year, so there was kind of negativity about it. 

"I think the success of the senior hurlers so far this year along with what the lads have done has certainly given a new optimism about Kerry hurling”.

After beating such hurling stalwarts as Portumna (1-19 to 0-20) in the All-Ireland semi-final - on top of brushing aside Bishopstown and other Limerick schools in previous rounds - the Kerry school will enter Saturday's decider brimming with confidence. Through no element of arrogance, Ryall ensures us that his side fear no opposition, not least because their industry and dilligence has built a solid foundation.

“It's great that you're playing these fellas and it's not being cocky or it's not being arrogant but since these lads have come into first year, we kind of don't really bogged down on where they're from or who they are or anything like that. We don't really care who we're playing. Once you go and give 150% and prepare right after that you can't really do anything else.

"But it's great for the lads playing against top sides, and it's nearly across the board with whatever they do that there's a bit of hardness and a bit of steel in them. 

"Even the last day, we had seven shots on goal in the last four minutes and we only scored two but they still got seven shots off, which is a huge thing. They don't panic, they're just staying at it. It's a great trait for them as young fellas to have, that they're not going to give up, they're not buying into anything, they just keep sticking to the game plan and they keep at it.

Similarly to Tralee, Maghera find themselves in the unique position of being in a hurling decider, but the Derry school will be no less prepared than their Kingdom counterparts, having shown their grit in a hard fought semi-final win over Coláiste Abhann Rí Callan.

“They would be regarded as being a huge football school and they won Ulster A. We don't really know anything about Maghera but they won the Hogan Cup last year and there are a couple of them lads that are still involved so they can't be bad. 

"They are probably good athletes, we'd expect. We will focus on them over the next couple of days and we will see what we can do. The main thing is we focus on ourselves and we will give it our best shot on Saturday.”