Holy Cross Strabane bid for Markey Cup glory

HOLY Cross College Strabane haven’t always had their names up in lights on the GAA front, so Thursday lunchtime’s Ulster Schools Markey Cup final against St Malachy’s Castlewellan in Dunmoyle is a major stepping stone for the school.

They’re managed by Finbar O’Neill – a native of Errigal Ciaran, where by chance the game will be played – and he says there’s a huge sense of anticipation surrounding their surge to the brink of provincial glory.

O’Neill said: “We wouldn’t be well known for being successful on the GAA scene. We’ve had a couple of soccer teams over the years that have won Northern Ireland Cups, but it’s the first major GAA final for the boys in my time at school anyway.

“There’s a real sense of buzz, not just in the school but in the community. People are stopping to chat about it so it’s fantastic.

“At the end of the day the main objective is to try and grow the game in the community and surrounding clubs and I feel that reaching finals like this will only help achieve that down the line.”

Holy Cross have come on in leaps and bounds since the competition started, surviving the group stages by the skin of their teeth before claiming impressive victories over Warrenpoint and Stranorlar to book their place in the final.

This group of players have improved immensely in their time at the school and Finbar believes that it all comes down to good old fashioned hard work and having the right attitude.

“The cubs have really bought into it, there’s huge buy-in across the board.

“Personally I’ve been keen to push it as hard as I can as it’s really enjoyable and you get to build good relationships with the young lads. I’m blessed to have a couple of good GAA people helping out – Ryan O’Neill from Urney has been instrumental in the youth football in his own club and he has a great relationship with our lads.

“There’s young Kyle Morrison who plays for Strabane and he’s a big help as well. When the lads see how much it means to us, it makes it easier for them to buy into things as well.

“We train a couple of times a week and set high standards and the boys know they have to adhere to those standards. Having that bit of structure has really helped and as I say it’s really enjoyable and long may that continue.”

Not only is it a massive occasion for the school, but it’s a feel-good story for the North Tyrone area. None of their players are involved with intercounty set-ups at underage levels, but Finbar believes that the talent is certainly there and that clubs based in the school’s catchment area are making big strides forward in recent seasons.

“Being an outsider coming into the school, I know that the area isn’t perceived as the strongest in Tyrone but I’m genuinely of the belief that the talent is there, and you can see that from the run we’re on.

“Currently we’ve no children on the Tyrone U15 or U16 panels, none on the Tyrone minor or U20 panels, so we’ve no Tyrone representation at all, but I could certainly make an argument that a few of our lads should be there.

“Maybe there’s that perception about football in the area and people involved with Tyrone don’t necessarily trust the players here, but I think we’re seeing first-hand what they can do when there’s a bit of trust placed in them.

“I hope that football in North Tyrone continues to grow and it’s been great to see the progress in recent years. Owen Roes won a minor league double last year, Strabane won Grade Two at U20 level the year before, Urney had previously amalgamated with Naomh Eoghan and weren’t fielding any youth teams but are now fielding at U6 up. There’s so much progress in the last few years so there’s plenty of cause for optimism.

“We’ve also received plenty of backing from the local clubs which is very much appreciated in terms of funding and letting us use their facilities so we’ve been blessed in that respect.”

Standing in their way of the title is St Malachy’s Castlewellan. Rather than getting bogged down in the opposition, O’Neill’s attitude is to let the lads play.

“We’ve learnt a few bits and pieces about them, they’re similar to ourselves in that they didn’t really have the group stage campaign they wanted but have been strong in the knock-out stages, they beat a very fancied Keady team.

“What we’ve been telling the boys is to go out and give it a rattle, and if each boy comes off the field and says they’ve done their best then that’s all we can ask of them.

“I’ve seen a few reports about them and they’ve a particularly good forward who will require a bit of attention but we don’t look too much at opposition teams, that’s not the way we’ve gone about things. I don’t want to go changing that now and we’ll see what happens on the day.”