'We'll have to be at the top of our game' says Garrycastle boss

As another county final approaches, there was little evidence of fanfare in Garrycastle last Friday night. Yet that's hardly surprising. After all, this will be Garrycastle's third county final in a row and their seventh in ten years. They have experienced both sides of the county final experience over the past two years, losing out to Castledaly in the 2008 final, and regaining the title last year. In Sunday's final, Garrycastle's opponents are Mullingar Shamrocks (Cusack Park, 3.30pm), whose last final appearance was in 2007 when they were defeated by Tyrrellspass. Garrycastle manager Anthony Cunningham acknowledges that putting titles back to back is a big incentive for his team. "The players have given everything and they've worked extremely hard during the year. They know they have to pull out all the stops to win this match, and they know they'll be judged on their performance on the day, and it will be excellent if they go on and win. We're hoping to get over the line, but we're under no illusions about how difficult it's going to be," he said. Although accepting thaty there's "massive experience" in his squad, he said: "But sometimes you can take it for granted as well, and the hunger and fight isn't there. It will come down to hunger and we'll have to have it to get over Mullingar. They'll be massively hungry ... they won't be lacking in those stakes and we'll have to match that." In their final game in the group stages, Garrycastle lost to Mullingar Shamrocks but it wasn't a costly defeat as they were already through to the knockout stages. Also, the defeat had the advantage of reminding the defending champions what Shamrocks are capable of. "They're a class team and they were very impressive the day they beat us. They have some huge players there, they're physically very strong and very mobile. We'll have to be at the top of our game to win; every single person in the club and in the panel knows that," said Cunningham. Following the quarter-final win over Athlone, Cunningham said he hoped his charges could reach the county final and have another 'crack' at Shamrocks, so the Mullingar side's progress to the decider came as no surprise to the Garrycastle manager. "Even last year, we drew with them and they showed a lot of ability last year and maybe got caught out in a quarter-final. There's going to be a huge effort required to beat them. But we've the world of confidence in our players." While Garrycastle have been impressive at certain stages en route to the county final, they have found it difficult to perform consistently over the full 60 minutes - something that Cunningham is acutely aware of. "Playing in fits and starts isn't going to win a final for you. We've been up and down that way, starting well and maybe then losing sight and then coming strong again. That type of performance won't win a final no matter who you are playing. We'll be trying to keep the concentration levels high." There's a feeling in the county that such is the quality of players at Garrycastle's disposal that they can move through the gears when required in matches. However, Cunningham believes his side will pay the price if they allow Shamrocks to steal a march on them in Sunday's final. "Shamrocks went ahead of us in the last match that we played them and they were hard to peg back," said the Galway native. Falling behind "against a quality side like Mullingar" will make things very difficult, he warned. A number of Garrycastle players have returned from injuries with long-term injury victim and last year's team captain, Gary Dolan, the only definite absentee at this stage. Last week, he could be seen helping out with the coaching of some of the club's juvenile players. "Gary was a tremendous captain last year and is a tremendous player for us and he really epitomises the spirit that these guys have," said Cunningham. "It's very hard luck on him, but he had a serious operation. Everybody else has come back, maybe some of them have come back a bit later than we hoped, through knocks and bits and pieces. We have everybody pushing hard for places and that's a great way to be." Given the contribution of the subs used by Garrycastle in the semi-final and in other games, Cunningham admits that selecting the starting fifteen will be no easy task for him and his selectors, though he adds "that's a good complaint to have". The emergence of young players both last year and this year has increased the competition for places. "Shane (Mulvihill) and Alan (Fox) have come right into it in the last few weeks. Mark (McCallon) and James (Dolan) played above their years last year and they're fine footballers," said Cunningham. Last year, Garrycastle reached their first ever Leinster club final, in which they were defeated by Portlaoise. And while they are not looking too far ahead at this stage, it's clear that Cunningham and his players would relish another Leinster campaign. "The players really enjoyed Leinster last year, they had a great run in it. It's what the lads wanted, to show their talents to people outside the county who mightn't have seen them play much before that. That's a massive incentive for us, to get a crack again at the Leinster championship. But you can't do that or talk about it until you are in the county final and that's the prize there. That's definitely something the lads want to play in and that's what we're striving for." The return of Justin McAteer and Rory McGowan to the Garrycastle set-up this year has really strengthened their options, and Cunningham is full of praise for the talented duo. "They're two fantastic players, they've great talent. Rory worked extremely hard the last day, we would want our wing-forwards to work extremely hard and to be so tired that they're spun out at the finish. But Rory has great ability, is a great athlete and a great footballer. Justin has been a revelation for us this year as well ...he's a fantastic asset to have. They're really putting great gloss on our team in the half-forward line and midfield." Looking back to the semi-final against Killucan, Cunningham pinpointed a lack of concentration as a key factor in their sluggish first-half display. "I think our concentration levels weren't the best. We got off to a quite a good start and were going okay against the wind and then, for some unknown reason, we switched off and that will be something we'll definitely be tuning into the next day - that we're winning more of the breaks and matching Mullingar in that sphere." Since the semi-final, Garrycastle have played challenge matches against Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) and Corofin (Galway), while Cunningham is also pleased with the "healthy competition in training". "It's great to have a strong panel and as we saw in the All-Ireland football final, matches aren't won by fifteen, they're now won by 20 players such is the level of fitness required. We'll definitely be calling on all our panel members the next day." On a personal note, it has been a hectic year for Cunningham as he guided the Galway U-21 hurlers to the All-Ireland final. Having been on the receiving end of a heavy defeat from Tipperary in that final, Sunday's decider represents an opportunity to claim some silverware from the season. "No one likes to lose but that's nature of the GAA and you're in it for the enjoyment and for the development of players. It has been a fantastic summer working with these two panels, both the Galway U21 hurlers and Garrycastle." Anthony's first real involvement with football coaching came at underage level with St Brigid's after he had moved to the Kiltoom area. It was the start of a wonderful adventure which has seen him win county titles on both sides of the Shannon, in addition to leading Brigid's to a Connacht title. Cunningham and Garrycastle may have designs on going a step further in Leinster this year. But first, there is the not insignificant matter of facing Mullingar Shamrocks in a bid to retain the Flanagan Cup.