O’Donoghue hoping Dunboyne can call on bank of experience

Conor O'Donoghue has been a very busy man for the last few weeks, but in these last few days in the lead up to the Meath SFC final his focus is solely on guiding Dunboyne to just their fourth Keegan Cup crown when they face Wolfe Tones in Sunday's decider.

O'Donoghue was one of the main driving forces behind the proposal to change the structure of the All-Ireland football championships that narrowly fell short of being approved at Special Congress last month, but while campaigning for that he has also been leading Dunboyne to the SFC final.

Himself a very talented player in his younger years, O'Donoghue is looking forward to coaching his own club into Sunday's final, but he is well aware that his side cannot afford to take anything for granted.

O'Donoghue knows that when his side are good they can be very, very good, but he is also aware that when they are not at their peak they are vulnerable.

"We didn't play well against Skryne and ultimately we nearly lost it, but we learned a lot from that game and every so often you need a punch in the face to waken you up and we certainly got one in that first game against Skryne," O'Donoghue told the Meath Chronicle.

"Either team could have won that game on the day. Thankfully we managed to get something out of it, which allowed us to build a little bit of a platform in the group because we certainly needed that.

"It didn't seem like that at the time, but on reflection there were loads of things that we took from that game and were able to use as we faced other challenges in the campaign.

"We know we are pretty ordinary when we don't perform, we are very much aware of that and it's something that keeps us awake at night when we go into these big games.

"We were pretty ordinary against Skryne and if we repeat that against Wolfe Tones next Sunday then we will lose, we know that. The game against Skryne is a nice reminder of our vulnerability when we are not ready to play and not ready to perform.

"At various stages undoubtedly we have got a couple of notes out of the lads and they have done very well, but equally in all the games we were vulnerable at various stages.

"We have played well in some games and not so well in others and that is the nature of a campaign. It is a series of different building blocks and learnings, we have been in enough semi-finals and quarter-finals down through the years to know that if we don't do what we can do then we will lose and we have lost in the past.

"There is always that nagging concern for us that we don't bring what we can bring. Absolutely, when we do bring our best there is no doubt we can play good football, but we are very focused on getting that high note out of ourselves and hopefully get a performance on the day."

That bank of experience O'Donoghue refers to is drawn from the 12 knockout stages that Dunboyne have reached in the last 15 years, but he is also conscious of the fact that in all those promising campaign St Peter's have made the final just once in that spell, when they won in 2018.

"Semi-finals bring their own particular challenge and there is always a lot of tension on the day. There is the fear of not getting to the Holy Grail in Meath which is the Keegan Cup final," recalled O'Donoghue.

"There is no doubt in recent years that we haven't always performed in those knockout games, so there was a tension around the semi-final, but we ground something out and there was something different in that performance from the game before.

"This is a very good group of players. That have had good days and bad days, all of that goes into the memory bank to create a set of experiences that you can draw upon when you do face a big challenge and that is the nature of the last 15 years or so.

"We have had a lot of ups and downs in that period. Obviously we won it in 2018, some of the Wolfe Tones lads won it in 2006 and will have that experience to call on, so there is a bank of experience we can both call upon and that will be part of both teams’ armoury."

So what exactly does O'Donoghue expect when his side face Wolfe Tones in Sunday's final?

"I have played against Wolfe Tones many, many times and probably have had more bad days than good days, so you go into the final very cautious," warned the Dunboyne manager.

"Their manager Micheal McDermott is a top class operator. He was a county manager, he has won All-Ireland club titles and he has won county championships in a number of different counties, so we know we are up against a really good operator and he is going to test us to the pin of our collars on the day.

"Also look at many of the excellent players they have. They have a great target man in Cian O'Neill inside where the long direct ball gives them all types of options.

"Those deliveries can often come from Cian Ward, who was a magician in the semi-final. He has done that on numerous occasions in Meath club football.

"Cian Ward is someone who can win a final on his own, so it is a huge challenge for us to be aware of.

"Right through the middle they will bring a huge battle and we know we are going to be faced with a motivated team with a lot of key players who can really hurt us if we are not ready.

"We have a big challenge to face. Wolfe Tones are a very formidable opponent who are on a really good run of form.

"We are definitely looking forward to the game, I'm sure they are too. It could be a good classic Meath final. We are two teams who have been there or thereabouts for the last few years, so I hope it's going to be a good final," enthused the Dunboyne man.