OMAGH CBS joint manager Pat McNabb has revealed that his players are itching to get going in Friday’s Hogan Cup Final against Summerhill and is hoping that they play the game and not the occasion.
“The boys are in good form and have been very sharp at training and we would be happy with where they are at at the moment,” he said.
“Usually when we get them out to training and get a warm up done and then into a bit of football there are times when you have to hold them back as they are all itching to get going. It’s all about keeping it short and sharp and going over things one more time and rehearsing things at this stage. The lads are all chomping at the bit and hopefully we will get the performance.
''To get playing football at any level at Croke Park is what dreams are made of and all the boys as well as the management team are looking forward to getting down there and experiencing that all. At the end of the day you have to go out and conduct your business because it is only a grass pitch with opposition playing you and we have to get that message across to the boys.
''It's a massive day but it is all about the 60 minutes and one football match and we have to put our best foot forward and try and deal with whatever Summerhill throw at us and I think that we are in a good place and we can hopefully do it.”
The Tyrone school have been impressive to date in their march to the decider and McNabb feels that they have learned a lot from tough battles against St Colman's, Newry and Patrician, Carrickmacross in the MacRory Cup.
“The quarter final and semi final of the MacRory were extremely tight games when you could have been on the wrong side of the result but once we got through to the final we had a feeling that the boys would click in the final and they did with a performance as well as the result,” he said.
“When I look back at both the Colman's and Patrician games you know that there wasn’t much in it and I’m sure they both are thinking if they had come through they could be looking forward to the Hogan final, they were that tight.
Those were the two games that me and Diarmuid (McNulty) would look back on and say that we learned an awful lot about our boys those days. The boys learned a lot as well and those lessons were taken forward and as a group of players you don’t always get that, sometimes boys don’t learn their lessons. We have built on those two close games and the boys are in a better place because of those two close tests.
Thankfully, they then carried that form into the Naas game, when on top of that they got the goals that we hadn’t been getting in previous games, when we had been living off 11 or 12 points. That win the last day was a good polished performance and a real statement of intent from early on and Naas never really got a handle on us.”
Pat is well aware of the challenge that they face against a Summerhill side that Omagh played earlier this year in a friendly, a side with plenty of experience and who have been forced to dig deep in all their outings to date.
“They had a tough run throughout Connacht, winning their five games by no more than two points each time,” said Pat.
“They have been tested throughout their campaign and they deserve to be in the final and we aren’t surprised that they are there based on what we saw when we played them just after Christmas.
''We are well aware that Summerhill will ask different questions of us and they are a very tough and experienced side. They are a side that are laced with quality with at least six players who are on the Sligo U20 panel this year and quite a few from the minor side of two years ago that won the Connacht title for the first time in 53 years.
''They have minors on their side this year as well and all of them have played county football at some level and been part of successful Sligo sides, like winning the Connacht U20 title last year, so there is no inferiority complex with these guys.
''They have a few leaders and a few stylish players, such as James Donnellan at number six, Dylan Walsh at midfield and Eddie Rooney at full-forward. They are really good players, as good as you would see at this level. But we are looking forward to playing against them as that is why you play at this level. They will have a few questions to answer from our point of view as well.”
