A production line that keeps on producing

The old saying “success breeds success” is a hard one to quantify from the outside looking in.

Thinking of my own club Éire Óg, I’ve been very lucky to be part of strong underage teams combined with our neighbours Michael Glaveys who fell short after very good campaigns in Division One from U-16 to U-20.

Since making the jump to the adult team, we have fallen short at the final intermediate hurdle in three out of the four championship campaigns I’ve played so far,.

Given our last championship title came in 1993, without stating the obvious, each loss becomes more difficult to take for a club starved of championship success.

However, when I started playing football for St. Nathy’s College in 2017 — playing for what I think is fair to call an institution of football — it filled myself and my team-mates with an intrinsic belief that every game can be won.

This was no more apparent than in my maiden year in Nathy’s, as a superb senior team that contained the likes of Kuba Callaghan, David McBrien and Jason Doory captured a Connacht League and Championship double in dramatic fashion.

The league final came down to a ’45 shootout, with my clubmate Jason Doory slotting the winning score. Once again, it was Jason who came up with a late winner in championship final against Scoil Mhuire, Strokestown, by finding the net late in extra time.

In the All-Ireland semi-final it was the turn of Western Gaels’ Luke Hester to rattle a late goal against Lucan CBS. I will always remember Willie Hegarty’s enthusiastic commentary on the moment.

While the final against Holy Trinity Cookstown got away from the lads on that day, I believe my own generation of players were instilled with the belief we could recreate what our older peers, clubmates and relatives achieved.

My two years of senior football came either side of a year where no competitive sport was allowed due to Covid-19.

I was lucky to be called into the senior team by Mr. Brett in Third Year, just two years after the previous All-Ireland final run. Some of the younger players who made it to Croke Park were now the leaders in our dressing room.

This was evident in the standard of our training sessions. With Mr. Brett, Mr. Maye and Fr. Paul still over us, there was a high level of trust from the players in the management which further raised everyone’s playing levels.

We got to a Connacht final that year after overcoming Ballinamore and Presentation College Headford and were set to face off against The Bish in the Connacht B final in Bekan.

Unfortunately, in the final, which was played in biblical wind, we never turned up. It’s my least favourite game to think back on personally. I was brought on after ten minutes where I somehow managed to pick up a second yellow early by the early stages of the second half.

We’ll call it adrenaline.

I would regret that even further over the coming months as it was the last game I played before the country was locked down in March of 2020.

Covid-19 was still lingering when football retuned in September 2021, with rolling lockdowns and everchanging restrictions meaning we ended up training probably less than ten times.

Nonetheless, it would not prove to be a deterrent to us, and it was one of the most enjoyable periods I had as a player. Something about playing alongside your best friends brings out a different sort of passion and energy on the pitch.

Whether it was the whispered analysis down the back of Irish or drawing up tactics over a breakfast roll in the “Ref,” — despite being in Leaving Cert — the mind never strayed too far from the pitch between the walls of St. Nathy’s storied campus.

We had some excellent players amongst our ranks for the 2022 championship campaign.

Dylan Walsh from Eastern Harps was part of that recent crop of successful Sligo teams at U-20. His younger brother Conor, who was only 16, started in midfield for us. He has gone on to represent Sligo at minor and U-20 levels.

Rory Hester, James McGreal and my cousin Brian Greene captured a Connacht U-20 title with Roscommon in 2024, and Seán O’Dowd from Kilmovee Shamrocks was part of the Mayo minor team that played Galway in the All-Ireland final held in Dr. Hyde Park in 2022.

Once again, we reached a Connacht B final, with convincing victories over St. Louis, Kiltimagh and Presentation Athenry pitting us against Garbally in the final, which was, once again, held in Bekan.

The likes of myself, James McGreal (whose cousin Adam was in opposition) and Rory Hester knew a lot of the Pearses lads from development teams through the years. We were aware of the challenge we were up against.

In fairness, we didn’t lay a glove on Garbally that day, with Declan Kenny and Jack Tumulty putting in fine displays bolstered by the likes of Seán Canning, Conor Harley and Conor Ryan.

While our team wasn’t as inspiring as the one in 2018 — and I have no doubt this that weekend’s side contains much more talent than ourselves — I like to think maybe a Dean Casey or a Patrick Gaynor, who were in their early days in Nathy’s, drew inspiration from us.

I wish the lads, my old teachers and, of course, my brother Cathal, the very best of luck at the weekend, and I have no doubt that their performances so far during the campaign have kept the Nathy’s production line turning for the future.