St Joseph's know the task ahead says manager Brian Doyle

St Joseph’s know the scale of the task ahead of them says manager Brian Doyle as the last team to win the title seek to dethrone three-in-a-row champions Glencar Manorhamilton in next Saturday’s Gotham Dry Wall LGFA Senior A Final in Drumshanbo.

“We’re looking forward to it, it is where every team wants to be in October, playing football - it means you are doing something right,” says Brian when asked about Saturday’s decider and he knows full well what the reigning champions bring to the table. They’re a good team, you don’t win three championships in a row by being lucky or being a bad team. I’ve seen them a couple of times this year and make no mistake, we know the task that is ahead of us.”

One of those times was  the final group stages game  as Glencar Manorhamilton scored a 5-13 to 2-10 but the St Joseph’s manager doesn’t read too much into that game: “We fulfilled the fixture in Manorhamilton and that was all that had to be done that day. We were qualified and it was a dead rubber but it gave a few girls game time and it would have been a long break without having a game.”

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One of the most notable aspects of St Joseph’s in this campaign has been their ability to come through tough games in this year’s championship with St Mary’s, Kiltubrid and Ballinamore putting them under fierce pressure at different times before St Joseph’s seized victory. It is a trait Brian attributes to the players rather than anything the management does!

“That’s down to the girls themselves, they’ve a great resilience, a great spirit, a great self-belief and confidence within the group. That didn’t come overnight, we didn’t have a great League campaign, we’ve still got a relegation game to play in the League so it was a steady process all year.

“Girls bought into it and you could see the improvement as the year went on. Certainly the championship has been the makings of it, there is something special when it comes to the championship and we certainly stepped up to it this year.”

Another feature of St Joseph’s has been the blending of young players with the older experienced crew: “It is great to see, you need a blend of youth and experience and I’m not saying that there isn’t a lot of experience but the players are not old but they have a lot of experience, they have a lot of wins under their belt and they’ve been there before and done it. 

“They are a huge benefit to us and to the younger players, to bring them on. We haven't had a big panel this year, it has been well documented the loss of players through one thing and another from last year but there is nothing you can do about that. But there is a great bunch of young players, about half a dozen young lassies about the one age coming through and they’re driving the thing on - and they drive the older players on too.”

This is Brian’s first foray into managing a Ladies team and he admits it was a bit of a ‘culture shock’ to him: “I did all my management before in the men’s game and it was a bit of a culture shock to tell you the truth, there is no point in saying anything else but I only know one way to train and that’s not an easy way. That’s what I told them at the start of the year and that’s the way its been and they bought into it.

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“Ladies football  is slightly different, the rules are slightly different and I think it is refereed in a certain way as well. It is supposed to be a non-contact sport but basketball is the only non-contact game I know and it is football at the end of the day. The rules are basically the same - you have to catch the ball, you have to be able to look up, be able to handpass the ball, kick it, run, fitness is the basic requirement at the end of the day along with a good skill level.”

As for next Saturday’s Final, all Brian says is “As I said at the start of the year, nobody gave us a chance to be here either. It is a horse race at this stage and we’ve told them that we have to be at our best and they have to have an off day but that’s sport, it can happen.”