RATHMORE may be outsiders in tonight’s Danske Bank MacLarnon Cup final at the Dub but their manager Gearoid Adams is looking forward to the test against a fancied St Joseph’s, Donaghmore outfit.
They are a side who have reached the decider on merit and perhaps in some people’s eyes they have done it earlier than expected.
“A lot of people in the school were maybe saying that next year’s team with all the current lower sixth and fifth years were the main team but our attitude was why wait a year, go out and do your best and that is what the boys have done,” said Gearoid.
“Some of our U16s are very talented as well. It has been a nice journey this year. We got beat in the Casement final and that competition lasted a long time as it was to be finished pre-Christmas but went into 2023.
‘‘We have a lot of dual players but it meant that the boys were training together side by side for a long time.”
It may be a different code but Adams hopes that hurling final lost to St Mary’s, Magherafelt last month will be an experience that could work in their favour this time around.
“To be honest there was about a thousand people turned up at St John’s for the Casement final and the stand was full and there was a great atmosphere and some of our boys froze,” he admits.
“They probably weren’t used to the big crowd and the big occasion and even though we didn’t do ourselves justice that day hopefully that experienced will have got them used to big finals.
‘‘There will be a tremendous atmosphere at the Dub and we need to make sure that we play the game and not the occasion.
‘‘To do that I think you just keep their feet firmly on the ground and when you get onto the training pitch that is the job of the manager and coaches by telling them that they have won nothing yet.
‘‘We know that we are going to be playing against a very talented team in Donaghmore but every match that we have played to date we have been the underdogs and that suits us as we are under no pressure.”
While this is Donaghmore’s first final at B level, Adams insists that Rathmore, like other Belfast schools, are similar in that they too have moved up in recent seasons in an attempt to test themselves.
“Rathmore only moved back up to B football two years ago,” he said.
“It’s a bit like Donaghmore, stepping up and playing at a higher level. It was as much for experience as anything else because it improves players. Some teams are happy to play at a certain level to win a competition.
‘‘It’s better to test yourselves and we aren’t the only Belfast school to move up to B football as it also gives you different challenges against different opponents.
‘‘There is a lot of good work being done in Belfast schools and that can only be good for Antrim football, there is a spark there now that was badly needed.”
Things weren’t looking that promising for Rathmore when they lost their opening match in this year’s competition but they have learned from that and beaten quality opposition on their way to the decider.
“Our first game in the group stages was against St Louis’, Ballymena and based on that display you would have thought that it maybe was going to be a short season,” he admits.
“It actually proved to be a good wake-up call for the players and since then we haven’t lost a game. That defeat put a bit of pressure on us and the next game was a make or break one against Red High and we beat them at home.
“That gave the boys the opportunity to see that we were a decent enough team. Probably our two best battles were against Milford in the group stages as well as the semi-final, both were very tight games.
‘‘They were a very talented team and we were lucky enough to get goals at the right time as it could have went either way.”
