Many St Michael’s supporters will have to pinch themselves this Saturday evening when they see their club team running out onto the hallowed ground of Croke Park in the All-Ireland intermediate club football final.
It has been an amazing rollercoaster journey for the club. Having been defeated last summer in the Galway club championship against Kilconly, they now find themselves within an hour of annexing 30 All-Ireland medals.
After that defeat to the North Board men, the city side picked themselves up, dusted themselves down, and went from strength to strength via the back-door to propel the club back into the senior ranks for 2009 and a place in the All-Ireland series.
Eddie Hoare, who has been a rock at midfield all season, feels that defeat was the catalyst they needed to cop on and start taking their football seriously again.
“We were galvanised by that defeat to Kilconly. And we really put the head down from Race Week on in training. John Ruane, team trainer, had the experience of being manager previously. The quality of work and commitment at training was superb in those few months and that’s why we are where we are now. We put the work in and so far we have been getting the rewards.”
That fitness and kick at the death in most games has served them well and their past two victories against Kilbride (Roscommon ) and Ballyroan Abbey (Laois ) have been by single point margins when their stamina has been a crucial advantage over their opponents in the final quarter.
Hoare, who is in his final year of a B Com degree at NUIG, is highly complimentary of the coaches who have made him such a good player.
“Obviously working with the likes of Liam Sammon for a few years at St Mary’s was a big plus. Liam is a top class coach who always gets you to work on your weaknesses and try to improve different aspects of your game. We were unfortunate not to win a Hogan Cup after coming out of Connacht three years in a row from 2004 to 2006, but hopefully we will get our hands on a national medal this weekend.”
Hoare is also keen to mention the men who coached him at underage in the club. “Gerry Dolan was our manager at u-16 and minor level and he is a terrific manager, and Tony Burke also did a lot of the ground work with the majority of this panel at u-12, u-14 and u-16 levels. Tony was hugely successful and he did Trojan work for the club. Without his commitment and others like him, we wouldn’t be going to Dublin on Saturday.”
The nucleus of the side that lines out this Saturday is from county minor winning sides in 2001 and especially 2004. It took those players a few years to adjust to adult football, but now they are looking forward to starting out in the senior championship next May and June. But, no one is looking past their Valentine’s waltz with St Michael’s Foilmore (Kerry ) first.
Hoare, who turned 21 last October, knows the importance of getting a win this Saturday. “There is a great unity in the club this year and all the lads are on the same wavelength. There are 35 solid men on the panel and we have to make the most of this opportunity. They don’t come around too often. We will have a massive crowd up following us on the night and the bunting and buzz around the parish has really brought us all together.
“There is a great sense of family in the team and there are five or six sets of brothers on the panel which really bonds us together. No stone has been left unturned, and having Michael Feeney home from Australia for the game, gives us some real options up front. It will be great too to see stalwarts like Kieran Stewart and Martin Cullinane wearing the club jersey in Croke Park. They have soldiered long and hard to get here and the key thing now is that we perform to our best and get a win.”
Hoare has had to battle with constant back pain to get to this level as he suffers from a bulged disc in his lower back. Causing him considerable discomfort, it has curtailed his involvement with the Galway seniors on some occasions.
With an All-Ireland final to be played, however, he just shrugs his shoulder at the thought of it and suggests that “when the adrenaline is pumping on Saturday evening around eight o’clock and the contest is in full-flow, back pain will be the last thing on my mind”.
