Pearses boss confident his men can secure Connacht crown

- Kevin Egan

It’s an All-Ireland club football championship race that no-one could have imagined. Big names have fallen in every province, meaning that with eight clubs still in the running, the favourites with the bookmakers are Down’s Kilcoo – who needed extra-time to overcome first time Derry senior champions Watty Graham’s of Glen.

Kilcoo and Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin have a decent amount of experience at this level, but out of the other five, all are making either their first or second championship appearance outside their own county since the turn of the millennium.

It means that with three rounds of games to go, the race for the Andy Merrigan Cup is wide open – and there’s no doubt in Pat Flanagan’s mind as to who’s the team to watch.

“There’s one team to be afraid of out of the eight that are left, and it’s Pádraig Pearses,” said Flanagan, whose Pearses charges take on Knockmore of Mayo in this Sunday’s Connacht final.

The Clara man is hoping that this Sunday will finally see him break through and add a provincial club title to the range of senior county championships he has won as a manager in Offaly, Westmeath and Roscommon.

“If we perform, we’re as good as any team that’s in it. So far we’ve played well for periods in games as opposed to full games. Even against Mountbellew-Moylough I’d have said there was no need for that to be so tight at the end; we could have put that game away before then. We’re letting teams stay in games and come back into games, but these lads are learning that they are a match for anyone, and what I want to do is bring them to the next stage, starting with this Connacht final,” Flanagan continued.

It’s not a case of under-estimating Knockmore, merely showing the same faith in his players that he has demonstrated since first taking the helm at Woodmount four years ago.

“Anyone who wins two Mayo championships in succession has to be a good team, and even though they didn’t get the chance to have a run in Connacht last year, when it’s not your first time to win in your county, you’ll always start thinking that way.

“They had a very tough semi-final against Tourlestrane, wearing them down mentally and physically before picking up the win, and then you’ll have winter weather conditions on top of that, which will really give the game a life of its own,” said Flanagan.

Nonetheless, he believes that this Pearses group are finally putting their credentials on display on the field, backing themselves in the same way he has backed them.

“I’d like to think so,” he said. “Looking back on the way they’ve prepared and played in the last three games in particular, it’s been exactly what a manager would want. They’ve shown the right attitude and self-belief, particularly if you think of the likes of the St. Brigid’s game where we outscored them 0-5 to 0-1 in the last quarter, so I’d hope the players understand now that they have the ability to go to a higher level again.

“The way I see it is that there are three hours left to be played in this championship, and we need to put in a big first hour to give us the chance of playing the other two.”

As of the time of writing, there are no significant concerns in the squad with regard to injury or Covid-19, though Flanagan is acutely aware that nothing can be taken for granted on that front until the ball is thrown in at James Stephens Park, Ballina this Sunday (throw-in 1.30pm).

“All we can do is monitor everyone and the lads are looking after themselves as well as they can, but when you see the speed of the spread of the virus at the moment, nobody can say for sure that they’ll be fine until they wake up that morning. It just makes it so difficult to plan everything, even training sessions, because you might have lads sitting out because they are close or household contacts, even if they’re feeling fine themselves,” concluded the former Tyrrellspass and Westmeath manager.

Who’s left in All-Ireland club hunt?

Saturday, January 8

Leinster Club SFC final

Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) v Naas (Kildare), Croke Park, 5pm - RTE.

Sunday, January 9

Connacht Club SFC final

Knockmore (Mayo) v Padraig Pearses (Roscommon), Ballina, 1.30pm.

Sunday, January 16

Ulster Club SFC final

Derrygonnelly Harps (Fermanagh) v Kilcoo (Down), Athletic Grounds, 3.45pm.

Munster Club SFC final

Austin Stacks (Kerry) v St Finbarr's (Cork), Semple Stadium, Thurles, 1.45pm.

All-Ireland semi-finals: Connacht v Leinster; Munster v Ulster.