St. Nathy’s aim to follow in the footsteps of past heroes

All-Ireland schools' semi-finals can be unpredictable. The surge of emotion that follows winning a provincial title must quickly be set aside if a team are to take the next step.

Colm Maye is well aware of this. However, he believes his St. Nathy’s side are determined to emulate the heroes of 2018, who reached the All-Ireland Senior B final, as they prepare to face Cork side Mount Saint Michael Rosscarbery in their last four showdown at the University of Limerick South Campus on Saturday (throw-in at 2 p.m.).

“The team met up the Sunday after the Connacht final for a pool recovery session. They organised it themselves, which shows they’re not satisfied with just a Connacht title. They want to push on and match — or even better — the 2018 team. Some teams can be content with their achievements, but these lads clearly want more.

“Our first training session back was sharp. There seems to be no limit to what they want to achieve.

“Psychologically, they have been targeting this for a long time. They all did Transition Year together to give themselves the best opportunity to win a Connacht title. They’ve earned that reward, but from what I’ve seen, they want to bring it to another level,” Maye outlined.

The joint manager admitted that with many players finishing their mock examinations on the day of the Connacht final, it was challenging for them to reach the same heights they hit in their semi-final win over St. Attracta’s.

“Coming from our semi-final, which was a derby, it was hard to reach the same pitch in the final. We were definitely sharper at the start of the Attracta’s game. Things seem to be better now than they were before the final. They seem more mentally tuned in.

“When you’re sitting a three-hour English exam, it can be tough to switch into football mode. They’re young lads, so you can’t be overly harsh on mistakes. The stress of exams and sitting for hours every day takes a toll,” he added.

Although St. Nathy’s will face a Mount Saint Michael Rosscarbery side featuring Cork U-20 footballer Dylan O’Neill — who kicked the winning point in their Munster final — Maye believes his team can improve on their Connacht final performance.

“We are stepping up another level. We’re playing the Munster champions, and they’re not champions for nothing. If we repeat some of the silly mistakes we made the last day, we’ll have to work even harder to dig ourselves out of any trouble.

“I don’t think the Connacht final was a bad performance, but I do think there’s more in us,” he concluded.