Quinn confident St Ciaran’s can handle the hype

St Ciaran’s captain Conor Quinn grapples for possession with coaches Fionntan Devlin and Brendan Trainor ahead of their All-Ireland final

COOL heads are a necessity if St Ciaran’s are to prevail in Saturday’s Paddy Drummond Cup final against Ballinrobe Community School (Mayo), according to their captain Conor Quinn.

While the Ballygawley-based school are accustomed to success, particularly at Vocationals level, they have never won an All-Ireland title at Croke Park. The hype is gathering pace as Saturday creeps ever closer but their impressive full-back, one of four Tyrone minor panellists on the team, is fully focused on the task at hand.

Quinn said: “It is special to be captain of the side but I’m going to try and not let that get to my head and go out and do my best on the day.

“The nerves haven’t kicked in yet but I’m sure they will come Friday.

“We have to try and put it the back of our minds that we are playing at Croke Park. It is vital that we don’t let the occasion get to us and everybody just needs to focus and work hard.”

Full interviews with Conor Quinn and St Ciaran’s joint-manager Fionntan Devlin are available in store today or online here.