Shane Ward delighted with cool headed St Clare's Manorhamilton in All-Ireland Semi-Final

Perfectionist that he is, I’m sure the St Clare’s CS Manorhamilton manager has found some areas of last Saturday’s Masita All-Ireland PPS Senior C Semi-Final performance that needs work but speaking right after an exhilarating display from his charges, Shane Ward admitted that it was a struggle to find anything that wasn’t superb on the evening.

St Clare’s routed Gaelcholáiste Reachrann Donaghmede 4-17 to 1-9 with a stunning display of football and when put to him that he would struggle to find any aspects of the game that weren’t 100%, Shane smiled as he agreed “Absolutely - I thought they were very good. Managed the game really well and played really with cool heads.”

It was a performance Shane felt was coming given the form of his team  in recent weeks, so much that he went into the game quietly confident: “I knew coming up the road they were in good form and things were going well this last two weeks. They've really focused on what they're trying to do. They're a confident group, but they're quietly confident, which is a good sign of them.”

The Donaghmede school never found a way into the game as St Clare’s never let up and Shane, a former Leitrim Senior and U21 manager, felt his players had learned from the Connacht Final win over Gortnor Abbey: “I suppose they learned a bit from that game, you know. Crossmolina brought it to a dogfight, which it didn't need to be that night. 

“I thought we were the better team for large parts of the Connacht Final. We're just moving game by game and just trying to encourage them to learn from every experience as they go. Just learning what you can take from each game. Two or three things you can take from each game and improve on and two or three things you can really do well and hone in on them and be better at them the following week.”

CAPTAIN JACK KELLY BUZZING TO REACH ALL-IRELAND FINAL

The manager was quick to deflect any praise towards the St Clare’s players rather than the management: “It's very straightforward, but it's great when they're driving that agenda and they're driving that thought process rather than the coaches. 

“They've great experience at this stage and they're starting to learn now that they can compete and they're starting to really push their thoughts as well as the football.”

It caps a remarkable period for the Manorhamilton school who have contested All-Ireland Finals in Ladies Football, Girls Soccer and now boys Gaelic Football in the past five years and Shane admits that sport is a big part of the schools’ culture: “I suppose at the school, what we're trying to do is just put energy around the kids and give them opportunities. 

“That's all we can do as teachers and that's part of our job. The girls and the boys, when they get the energy around them and they come together and bring some energy themselves, it's amazing what things can happen. That's essentially what we're trying to do is give the kids opportunities to be the best they can be.

“Whether it's music, football, soccer, anything - as long as they get the opportunity is the main thing. These boys are taking this opportunity now and it might never come around again.”

For many of the St Clare’s players, Saturday's superb performances come after a long club season with both Glencar Manorhamilton and St Patrick’s Dromahair excelling in the Connacht Minor Club last November and many of the players starring for the Leitrim Schools team who reached the Senior A Semi-Finals.

So how have they managed to keep going? “Just literally took it one game at a time. I suppose they'd come off a good strong club season, you have the quality of player there. It's just about bringing them together in a different light and bringing them together as a group. 

“Schools football is at a good level and I think that team we played today had four or five clubs feeding in. So you're going to meet good players all around the pitch and your main one or two players aren't going to win a game. It's going to take a team effort and a squad effort and thank God at the minute that's what we have.”

Now St Clare’s have an All-Ireland Final to look forward to against Clare's Ennistymon CBS who beat St Patrick's Keady 1-13 to 2-6 on Saturday and Shane is embracing the excitement that will hit the school over the next few week!

“Any time you get an All-Ireland final to look forward to is great. It's a great time for the school. The school is putting huge energy and huge support behind us. The buzz around the school this week was brilliant and everyone, from top to bottom, are behind us and pushing to see if they can help the boys in any way at all.”