Naomh Pádraig ready for London trip take two

By Shaun Casey

HOW much would you sacrifice for an All-Ireland medal? Would you give up one Christmas for a lifetime of memories? That’s the question Daniel McCauley has posed to his Naomh Pádraig side ahead of their Twinning final with London side Tara.

A place in the All-Ireland Junior Championship semi-finals is up for grabs at McGovern Park, Ruislip this Sunday in the rescheduled clash as the Ulster champions make the trip over to London for the second time in a month.

Storm Darragh brought an end to proceedings back in December, even though the Donegal team and their faithful followers had already made the journey over. But manager Daniel McCauley, couldn’t argue with the end result of the match being postponed.

Both teams were already out warming up, but ultimately the referee decided to pull the pin.

“In fairness to the referee, he did tell us that the likelihood was that the game would be postponed but he’d give it every chance, he’d give it three inspections,” said McCauley.

“He was right in his call because there was too much surface water down the lower end of the pitch. When you’d kick the ball up into the air, it would just get stuck in the muck when it landed, so I totally understood, frustrating as it was.

“When you’re out warming up and you have everybody available, we had a full panel to select from and you never know the next day what will happen, there could be an injury picked up over Christmas, there could be boys unavailable due to work, but it is what it is.”

In the intervening weeks, Naomh Pádraig certainly didn’t take their foot off the gas and a couple of challenge games in December helped keep them ticking over ahead of the big game.

“We’ve been lucky enough, we’ve had a few challenge games with ATU Letterkenny’s Sigerson team and we also played a third game then against the Donegal Under 20s, there were a few boys on at trials,” he added.

“Gary (Boyle) was looking to get a look at them in a match scenario so it was good for both parties, because we’re up to speed at the moment and then he wants to see who’s who in the trials for the 20s for next year so it worked out well for everybody.”

Christmas time is a tricky one for teams still competing at this time of the year, which is nothing new, but McCauley made no bones about it when he sat down with his players to discuss their plans around the festive period.

“We’ve gave the boys a few days off,” he described. “We all sat down, and we talked about a plan of the days when they’re available, when they weren’t available and we had a gym programme in between, just to keep all the cobwebs off.

“Everybody had their few nights out, but my advice to them was, will we sacrifice a Christmas for an All-Ireland title? And we all agreed we would. For the value of one Christmas, you don’t want to have regrets at the end of the day.”

Having already got to witness this weeks opponents up close and personal, along with the rigorous bout of preparation McCauley and his management team have put in, his side won’t be taking the challenge that the British champions pose lightly.

“We had three videos of their games this year anyway, and I saw a highlights reel of the season, which was put up as well, so we’ve had a good look at them, and they do actually look a good side. When we were all warming up, I would always have a habit of watching all other teams’ warm-ups to see what way they’re going, and they do look a good side for a London team,” the Naomh Pádraig boss continued.

“I know they get a lot of disrespect from the Ireland sides, and we maybe think they’re not as good, but, no, I have to give these boys credit. They’re not a bad side and it’s something we need to be very careful and mindful of, that we’re not complacent.”

Tara, who defeated Roger Casements in the British final with three points to spare, have a large amount of homegrown players in their ranks, although there’s a few men from the Emerald Isle in their panel. There are no Donegal representatives on their team, but they do have a couple of London inter-county players to watch out for.

“I think there’s a Meath, a Mayo and a Kerry man. They have 11 home-based players on the starting line-up, which is quite a lot for a British side.”

This week’s Gaelic Lives looks ahead to the All-Ireland semi-finals this weekend and we have Ulster minor winning reaction.