On Saturday evening St Enda’s, Glengormley bid to become the first ever Ulster Intermediate Football Champions from Antrim when they meet Cavan’s Mullahoran in the provincial final at the Athletic Grounds. Andy Watters spoke with two of the club’s young stars - team captain James McAuley (22) and 21-year-old midfielder Joe Maskey - ahead of an historic occasion for their emerging club.
Andy Watters: Not long to go now, how are you feeling? Nervous? Excited? A bit of both?
Joe Maskey: “On the team there isn’t nearly as much nerves as there was going into our own county championship final (against Gort na Mona).
“I think the pressure is off us a wee bit, now we have to prove how good we actually are and see how far we can go in Ulster. Obviously we’re in it to win it
James McAuley: “We’ll approach like it’s just another game. We’ll keep everything the same, the only thing the same is that at the end of the game there’s going to be a trophy lifted. Hopefully it’s us who are lifting it.
AW: Only Dunloy (2007) and Moneyglass (2004) have come out of Antrim to reach the intermediate final and both fell at the final hurdle. St Enda’s hadn’t won an Antrim title at senior level until this year, so where has this run come from?
JMcA: “The core of the team has all come through underage together.
“We played U16, minors and U21s together.
“The biggest problem we’ve had over the last two years is trying to transfer that success into senior level. I’m just thankful that this year was the year. There is a winning mentality within the squad and long may it continue.
JM: “At my age, we won everything at every level up until minor and then we got to four U21 semi-finals in-a-row.
“If you were looking in as an outsider you would have said we were big favourites but we didn’t have that wee bit of maturity.
“This year we’ve put that aside and with the experience Frank (Fitzsimmons, the manager) has brought in this year we’re a bit more composed. Frank doesn’t lose it on the line whereas previous managers would. If a goal goes in he doesn’t be screaming and shouting, he’d be quiet and he has belief in us.
“It wasn’t bad management in the years before but Frank is offering us something that we didn’t have.
“We’re all coming together at the right time and I think this is something that could go on and maybe we’ll win a senior title next year. I think that possibility is there but for now we’ll focus on Mullahoran.”
AW: You mentioned Frank Fitzsimmons. He took over St Enda’s after he had three years as manager of the Antrim seniors. He has brought all that experience and knowhow to St Enda’s and it is obviously paying off?
JMcA: “He brought Pat Hughes in with him this year and Thomas McNulty is also on the management team. They’ve been unbelievable this year, they have serious belief in our squad, they send us out onto the pitch and they know we’re capable of managing it out there ourselves.
“You can point to the extra experience Frank brings and the extra experience we have of playing a year in Division One. We don’t want to be a team that gets to an Ulster final, we want to be the team that won an Ulster final.”
AW: Only St Gall’s and St John’s have come out of Antrim and won Ulster football titles so this is a special run you are on. With a fair bit of doom and gloom around Antrim at the minute at county level and with the Casement Park project stalled, you are flying the flag for your county. Are you conscious of that?
JM: “Nobody from Antrim has won an intermediate title so just the thought of winning it is brilliant.”
JMcA: “After the Antrim final, Frank was quick to refocus and say: ‘You don’t want to be one of these teams that goes into Ulster just content to win their own championship. You don’t want to role over to a team from Fermanagh or a team coming up from Tyrone.’
“The way I see it, it’s 15 against 15 at the start of the match so what makes them better than us just because we’re from Antrim?
“We’ve done a serious amount of work throughout the year and if a team beats then you have to take your hat off to them because we have put the work in. Any team that out-works us or out-plays us will have to be a serious team.”
AW: You’ve put the graft in then. So who is the hardest worker at training?
JMcA: “All 30 of us, all 35 of us including the management.”
JM: “We’ve all worked hard. I broke my foot and in my first training back Frank had us going for 32 and-a-half minutes of running going around cones marked out on the pitch.
“We’ve worked hard and I think it’s all about us keeping our nerve now.
“I’ve never gone into a game saying: ‘Ah we’re going to lose’ but we have bottled it a few times.”
JMcA: “We have that experience now and there’s no other way to get it than playing tough games and losing tough games.”
AW: Joe you are 21, James you are 22. This is a very young side. Who is the oldest player on it?
JMcA: “On the starting 15 you have a 35-year-old, a 28-year-old and a 25-year-old and everyone else is under 22. Philly Curran is the 35-year-old.”
AW: Philly must feel a bit ancient then?
JM: “Me and him play in midfield together.
“He has been playing senior football for 18 years and I wind him up about it sometimes. He’s been playing senior football before I even started playing for St Enda’s. I wind him up but him and Damien Gault are big players for us.
“The St Enda’s club is 62 years-old and there were people from the first team that played at our last match. It was good to see the look on their faces after we won but we’ve been the first team to get this far. We’ll see how far we progress but I think we’re more than capable.”
AW: Mullahoran are more than capable too though. They went to extra-time against Bredagh (Down) and then Banagher (Derry) who took them to a free-kick shoot-out in the semi-final. They won that too so you certainly can’t fault them for determination and composure this year. Some people see them as favourites, is that fair?
JMcA: “Throughout this championship we have been big underdogs and big favourites and we’ve won every time.
“You have to admire the character that Mullahoran have shown so far to get here. Going to extra-time twice and then free-kicks… I can’t get my head around the nerves they must have been feeling taking those shots.
“But you can look at it two ways. You can say it adds to their character and builds them up for the final or you can say it’s extra miles on their legs and it could work against them. We’ll see on Saturday evening.”
AW: James you are the team captain, what will it mean to you to go up the steps at the Athletic Grounds and lift the McCully Cup on Saturday?
JMcA: “I want to be the one going up the steps and lifting that trophy and it would be unbelievable.
“After we beat Gort na Mona (Antrim final), seeing all the older club members afterwards celebrating was brilliant and then after we beat Tattyreagh (Tyrone champions in the Ulster semi-final) seeing everyone out on the pitch was amazing.
“That’s what it’s all about, seeing the looks on their faces.
“You could argue that we have the easy job on the pitch because my mum and dad said they wouldn’t be back after the Tattyreagh game because it wrecked their nerves watching it!”
AW: You are both putting in a serious effort for your club. What do you do away from football?
JMcA: “I’m doing a Masters at Queens. Joe’s a chef.”
JM: “I’m a baker, my da (Gerard) is a chef at The Pump House down in Duncrue but I prefer the baking side of it.”
JMcA: “He makes a lovely lemon drizzle cake and he has his own buns ‘Jammie Joses’.”
AW: Will we ever see you on the Great British Bake-Off?
JM: “A couple of people have said that to me but, nah, I’d miss too much training.”
AW: What about the county. I’m sure you are both hoping to get onto the Antrim panel for next year?
JMcA: “I played U21 but I haven’t made the breakthrough yet”.
JM: “I’m a hurler. Sambo (Terence McNaughton) has me warned ‘Don’t be selling your soul! Make sure you come back a hurler!’”
