O’Mahony’s heart remains very much with St. Brigid’s

John O’Mahony has always had a particular affinity for St. Brigid’s, one that stretches back more than 25 years after he helped guide the club’s senior team to a first senior championship title since 1969.

Over the course of a successful managerial career, including masterminding Galway’s All-Ireland success in 1998 and 2001, he has also acted in an advisory capacity at various stages for the Kiltoom-based club.

His most notable involvements were in 2005 and 2006 — first working with Ger Dowd when another long-awaited county senior title was achieved along with a first Connacht final appearance, and the year after with Anthony Cunningham as part of the management team that secured a first provincial title for the club.

Over the years, the Ballaghaderreen-based former teacher has always kept an eye on the South Roscommon club’s fortunes on the football fields, and he is well positioned to run the rule over Sunday’s big showdown in Croke Park.

It’s widely accepted that St. Brigid’s will be going in as underdogs but O’Mahony believes that will be an advantage to Jerome Stack men’s in not having to deal with the favourites tag.

“It’s an exciting challenge for this young Brigid’s team that have improved immensely since the beginning of the year. You know this team is going to be around for a good number of years, they have a huge future but, at the end of the day, they will want to win it now, not in two years’ time,” O’Mahony told the Roscommon Herald.

In the All-Ireland semi-final against their more physically imposing opponents from West Cork, O’Mahony was very impressed with how such a young team was set up for the challenge.

“They played a very intelligent game tactically against Castlehaven. First of all, they hit 1-4 early using brilliant pace and running in packs, and they kept the game spread. Brigid’s also had eight scorers whereas Castlehaven had only three, and they mainly came through Brian Hurley.”

The team’s recovery after the second-half wobble was also a big plus.

“Brigid’s came out of that very well. It’s a bonus to them that they did that. They started very strongly and finished very strongly. What they have to look at now is some of the things in between like why did it get to a wobble.”

O’Mahony also believes Croke Park will suit the Roscommon team’s style of play.

“The wide open spaces of Croke Park will suit Brigid’s. I know Glen were there last year but Brigid’s are a young team with huge pace.”

However, despite the incredible journey so far for this young crop of players, John believes their opponents on Sunday will be on an entirely different level to any previous challenge this season.

“Glen are very much on a mission because they feel they want to finish the job and justice wasn’t done last year. They had eight scorers as well in the semi-final and they will have threats coming from all over the place. While Castlehaven were lacking pace, Glen have that pace and they have that scoring threat from all over.

“So this is a different and a more difficult challenge. The midfield battle is going to be very important. However, when you get to an All-Ireland final, and I’ve been in a few of them, all kinds of things can happen.

“That’s the script from the Glen point of view but the script can be torn up as well you know because anything can happen in an All-Ireland final and I wouldn’t rule out anything here. The unexpected will always happen whether it’s an injury or whether it’s a black card or whatever. It will be how both teams cope with that and that’s the challenge,” he accepted.

The Ballaghaderreen man also points to the importance of tradition, which he feels is of no small value to the Roscommon flagbearers.

“Glen have the advantage of being in a final last year but tradition counts for something in that you can never write Brigid’s off in a big game. I mean Brigid’s have a lot of tradition behind them over the last 27 years since ‘97 and winning their first Connacht title in 2006. And then winning an All-Ireland after losing one, they actually have more tradition than Glen have.”

During the discussion, O’Mahony references other coaches who have made a huge contribution to building the club into a force that it is, such as Noel O’Brien who led the club to a first senior All-Ireland final appearance in 2011, and Kevin McStay who plotted the historic All-Ireland success 11 years ago.

Now Jerome Stack and his charges have the opportunity to write another famous chapter in the club’s history. So ultimately how does John see the big game panning out?

“If Brigid’s keep that ball moving and keep the wide berth, they could very well be in the mix coming into the home stretch, and if you’re in the mix in the last ten minutes of any game, it doesn’t matter who are favourites or who are underdogs. I expect Brigid’s to be in that situation and Brigid’s showed that before in 2013.

“It depends on how both teams maximise their potential. Each team have certain advantages. What Brigid’s need to do is to keep it open. They need to get a good start, like they did the last day, and they need to stop the wobbles in the middle. That’s perfection I suppose, but that’s what you have to aim for.” John predicts there will be little separating the sides in the finish.

“I can’t see either team having much to spare over the other. I cannot see a big win for either. I suppose if I put my head on the block, the evidence might suggest Glen are the natural favourites. But I’m not ruling out a Brigid’s victory and my heart would be very much with Brigid’s,” he revealed.