St Eunan’s College’s Under 15 football team will look to secure All-Ireland glory when they take on Moyle Park College, Clondalkin in the FAI Schools Minor Boys National Cup Final at 12.30pm on Wednesday in Athlone.
Paul Browne’s talented young side have impressed in the competition and laid down a marker by defeating ‘The Bish’ (St Joseph’s Patrician College, Galway) 5-1 in the semi-final.
Browne was on tenterhooks over the weekend hoping that all the players would come though their club activities unscathed so that they can give the final a real blast.
“It’s been a great experience for the boys and we have a great wee team.
“Usually you would have six or seven good players and are kind of filling in the other spots, but that’s not the case with this team. We are strong in every single position.
“We were beat in the first year’s final last year by Scoil Mhuire but we have a couple of third years eligible this year and it has made a big difference with the likes of Cormac Crossan in nets, Blake Meredith, Adam Rodgers, and Shai Thompson playing.
“We won the League Cup Final well and I think we kind of shocked Buncrana that day.
“It was closer in the Ulster Final and we were lucky to be in the game when they went 2-1 up but we won 3-2.
“In the All-Ireland semi-final, we played very well.
I think 3-1 would have been a fair result but we really took our chances and won 5-1.
“The Creeslough Kaka – Mark McGuinness – and Finn Nolan have been linking up very well in attack.
“It won’t be easy on Wednesday as Clondalkin have five players who are with Shamrock Rovers and they played Finn Harps on Saturday,
“They have the Ireland Under 15s captain and a brother of QPR player Sinclair Armstrong playing but I just hope everyone comes through their games at the weekend.
“We have some players who are playing in Brighton at the weekend and there’s a derby match between Bonagee and Letterkenny Rovers so I just hope everyone comes through ok and are fit to play.”
Browne is an experienced coach who has enjoyed success with school teams in the past, and Galway United Assistant Manager Ollie Horgan is also a respected presence on the sideline.
“I was putting on the pressure with Ollie to put in one more big push with a school team.
“He’s been involved since before Christmas and I think he’s enjoyed it and he’s really got the bit between his teeth with it now.
“He’s brilliant to have involved and his attention to detail is second to none.
“I have been taking teams at the school for 22 years and have done coaching badges, but I’ve learned more in the last six months from working with Ollie.”
Browne says the student population in the school are looking forward to the final.
“The flags and bunting are up and there is a good buzz.
He added: “I had the senior team in 2020 and we got through to the All-Ireland Final but it wasn’t played because of Covid. We would have loved to have played it even if we had lost, so we want to make the most of the opportunity on Wednesday.”
ST EUNAN’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL SQUAD: Cormac Crossan, Senan Kelly, Jonah Cannon, Ryan Toye, Evan Duffy, Martin Pirch, Ryan Buckley, Donal McBride, Aaron McGinley, Mark McGuinness, Davin Kelly, Kyran Creevy, Joel Jimmy, Cathair Daly, Temple Akpo, Kyle Macauley, Adam Dwyer, Josh Ryan, Odhran McLaughlin, Matthew McGinley, Zach Gallagher, Adam Rodgers, Bradley Boyle, Finn Nolan, Shai Thompson, Blake Meredith, Max McKeever, Caolan McNulty, Shay McCauley, James Toner, Luke Patterson, Daniel Kelly, Ryan Devenney.
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