By Shaun Casey

IT’S been a season of firsts for Our Lady’s and St Patrick’s, Knock and they’re hoping to add to their recent history this Thursday afternoon when they take on St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Spanish Point in the All-Ireland ladies football final.

Before the turn of the year, the Belfast-based school had never reached in an Ulster ‘A’ final, but proved too strong for St Mary’s, Magherafelt and qualified for the All-Ireland decider with an impressive 5-5 to 0-10 win over Coláiste Bhaile Chláir, Claregalway.

Now, the focus is very much on landing a maiden All-Ireland crown at this level and manager Stephen Dyas, who takes the team alongside Maeve Deery and Catherine McGourty, hopes they can take one last huge leap.

A past pupil of Abbey CBS, Newry, Dyas was involved in their management team as they ended a 20-year wait for a MacRory Cup title and just came up short against Coláiste Mhuire in the Hogan Cup semi-final, after extra-time.

“It’s the school’s first All-Ireland ‘A’ final,” explained the Dromintee native.

“They’ve been in ‘B’ semi-finals at u-20 level, but this is the first time ever, across boys and girls football, they’ve been in an All-Ireland ‘A’ final. It’s the equivalent of the Hogan Cup.

“I was involved with the Abbey a couple of weeks ago and the hype and build up to that game (the semi-final), it brings a bit of excitement for me, knowing that’s the kind of level we’re at.

“I was speaking to a couple of other people and up until February 3rd, the school had never been in an Ulster ‘A’ final, so we’ve come on leaps and bounds in the last couple of weeks, achieving a bit more history.

“It’s all about the girls. They’ve put in all the work and they’re achieving history as we go so Thursday is another first, we’ve never got to this sort of level before.”

Their last four triumph was two weeks ago and the excitement and anticipation for Thursday’s All-Ireland showpiece started the very next day, when the girls returned to school on the Friday.

Ever since then, the build-up has been steady, and each passing moment is a reminder of what Dyas and his girls can achieve. The pinnacle of schools’ football is at their very fingertips.

Mentions of an All-Ireland final and what is on the line send butterflies rumbling in the bellies and Dyas, who was also involved with Dromintee’s Ulster minor winning side last season, can’t wait to see his girls line out at Netwatch Cullen Park.

“The day after the semi-final, the buzz really started there for staff and pupils and whenever we came in on Monday, there was a mention in our morning briefing that it was All-Ireland final week, which creates an element of that buzz within the staff itself,” he added.

“The staff have done a lot of stuff with the sport in the school and obviously teach the girls so there’s a lot of excitement on that front and then there’s just the natural buzz within the group as they get to go somewhere where they haven’t explored yet in an All-Ireland final.”

Knock are going into the encounter blind, Dyas admitted. Finding any useful information on opposing teams is almost impossible at this level, never mind when the opponent is from the other end of the country.

But it’s nothing new to the Knock girls and Dyas understands his side are coming up against a strong and hungry outfit, who crave those All-Ireland medals just as much as his girls do.

“We have minimal information, if any, on them really. We had a small bit of information on Claregalway in the previous round. The only bit of information that I have on Spanish Point is that they’re from Clare!” he laughed.

“I know very little about them so what the supporters and parents and players will see at 2pm on Thursday will be the first I have heard of them as well in terms of being able to see what they can bring.

“But I’ve said this to the girls already, we have to respect the Spanish Point team because they’re not in an All-Ireland for no reason. They’re not there just because someone felt sorry for them and put them there, they’ve worked really hard since September to get here.

“They definitely shouldn’t be underestimated and they’re going to have a panel of really good footballers who are itching to win an All-Ireland medal.”