Who can put years of hurt behind them and lift Junior title?
Emmet Moran and Fighting Cocks will take on Leighlinbridge Talbot Hotel JFC 'A' Final. Photo: Pat Ahern
Kieran Murphy
Two teams who have experienced a fair degree of disappointment in the past go face to face in this year’s Junior Football A Championship final.
Barring a draw when the final whistle is blown on Sunday, it will be redemption for one and heartbreak for the other.
“We lost the final to St Mullins two years ago and were relegated two years before that. We are about six years down and hadn’t been relegated since 1998 when Cocks last won junior,” said Cocks manager, Gary Nolan.
There was also the matter of the restructuring of the senior championship in 2013 which saw the Cocks winning the intermediate championship but were not promoted.
So now, Leighlinbridge stand in their way. Nolan says this is as tough as it gets.
“We have played them loads of times. They have got the better of us too often so we are hoping to get the best of them this time. I know a lot of them. We will be up against it. They will have a hoodoo which they will be trying to get off as they have been in the last two finals. They will be gunning for it,” he says but goes on to say the Wexford Road side are also similarly focussed.
“We don’t want to be junior. No one does. We lost the semi-final to Leighlinbridge last year. There was only a few points in it.”
With a semi-final only eight days before a final, the preparation will be finely honed.
“There is nothing more we can do. The championship is so condensed. Six to eight weeks. You cannot flog lads so if you can keep everyone healthy it is great going into a county final. This week will be low intensity. That is all you can do.”
Pakie Fleming is manager of the Leighlinbridge team. He admits the club are consumed by the thought of winning here.
“It has been the goal for a lot of years. We have to go and get it done now. We only have to worry about ourselves. We have to turn up on the day now and finish it off,” says.
Both sides had different semi-final experiences. The Cocks were pushed the whole way by Kilbride. Leighlinbridge seemed to have it easy against Rathvilly who didn’t or were not allowed to turn up.
“Our defence was very solid against Rathvilly. They played well. If we had been a little bit off, Rathvilly would have taken full advantage of it,” notes Fleming.
So D Day approaches. This is hard to call. Leighlinbridge are flying at the moment. Their experience may tell against a relatively younger Cocks outfit but don’t bet too much on that.
Leighlinbridge
