Collegeland skipper enjoying community buzz ahead of decider

By Shaun Casey

FROM the start of the season, Collegeland eyed up a spot in the Junior Championship final and now it’s all about going and winning it. The club last got their hands on the Sean Quinn Cup in 2019, and most those players will once again line out in the blue and white on Sunday.

In the opposite corner this weekend will be their near neighbours An Port Mór, who cut their championship campaign short last season, beating their rivals in the playoffs with a last-minute goal.

Collegeland skipper Steafán McKenna needs no reminding of the rivalry between the two clubs.

“I actually went to primary school in Port Mór when I was younger so it’s a bit special for me,” said McKenna.

“There’s definitely a bit of buzz, I haven’t seen anyone yet, but I’ll definitely see a few of the boys around before the game and there’ll be a bit of banter beforehand. There’s definitely a buzz about the community.

“When you start off the start of the year, especially with Paul (Doyle) coming in and his pedigree, we expected to be here and here we are now. As soon as he come in, there was a bit of a buzz whenever Paul took the job and since then, he’s been brilliant.

“He’s brought his style of play and his ideologies to the club and the community. It’s just gone from strength to strength since he started.”

Collegeland are the favourites on Sunday and eased their way through the group stages with three landslide victories. But their knockout contests have been a little more challenging and they’ve had to fight for their place in the final.

Doyle’s side beat St Peter’s II and competition favourites Forkhill on their way to Sunday’s showdown.

“St Peter’s were a bit of an unknown,” added McKenna.

“We didn’t really know what we were going to get, and they might have surprised us at the start. They deserved to be in there and they gave us a bit of a scare.

“When we got regrouped at half time and we went at them, we came through it.

“With Forkhill, Paul said throughout the week that if we turn up and we play to our abilities, we expected to beat them. We just sort of believed that. We went in there thinking we were going to win this game and lucky enough, it went our way.”

Now it’s about finishing the job on the biggest day of all.