We have full trust in Mr Ward says St Clare's Bailey McBride

If the faith Shane Ward has in his players is obvious, so too is the belief St Clare’s CS players have in their manager, the words of Bailey McBride and Jack Kelly capturing the impact the former Leitrim manager has had on the Manorhamilton school’s players.

“We've full trust in Mr Ward and what he's telling us to do. It's unreal to have him behind us,” was Bailey McBride’s assessment of their manager while Jack Kelly added “His knowledge really helps us, he's been around the block for years now. Obviously he won a championship here at Manor five years ago and it's great to have him.

“His knowledge is just unbelievable, and it's really helping us. You can see that with the way we're playing, he's really put his print on us and we're, we're just delighted to have him,” concluded Jack.

Ahead of the Final, Bailey is determined to make the most of the occasion: “There's good vibes all around school, around the town, it's a massive thing for just the community in general, it's massive now, everyone's buzzing. There's a certain amount of nerves but I suppose you kind of embrace it and enjoy it, and that's what it's all about really, isn't it?”

For Bailey, playing in an All-Ireland Final with friends  makes it extra special: “Obviously we haven't really played at that level before, but we've grown up together, most of the lads, so we've been enjoying it, most of all playing football and exposing ourselves to playing at a high level, it's been great.”

WE SHOULD EXPECT MORE OF OURSELVES SAYS ST CLARE'S CAPTAIN JACK KELLY

How exactly do the Glencar Manor and Dromahair lads keep going after a busy campaign with club and schools but for Bailey, the answer is simple: “It's for the love of the game really, it's just all you want to do is play football and play it at the highest level, playing with your friends, with people you've grown up with, it's unreal, all you want to do is play football.”

Even St Clare’s amazing semi-final win is regarded as something that came from following the gameplan: “The lads just played unreal, we were fighting for every ball. Most of us grew up together so we would've all played and we just knew what we wanted to do, we were just moving the ball so quickly.”

Asked to sum up his own game, Bailey admits he is just as happy providing assists as he is to get scores, leaving the scoring up to Jack Kelly: “Just get the ball and move it quickly, move it, play attacking football, get the ball, head up, kick the ball in, just try and keep the ball moving. Jack usually gets all the scores. It's always nice to score, but I do enjoy setting things up, so.”

Enniscrone as something of an unknown but Bailey says St Clare’s will focus on their own game: “I don't know much about them but hopefully we'll find out a bit leading up to the game. When we go out, we just do everything, play our football, and if there's certain lads we have to sort out with them, we focus on that, but look, we'll focus on ourselves and play our football, and see how we get on.”