SHC Final Focus... Connolly looking to lead team to Promised Land

SHC MANAGERS VIEW

JIMMY GEOGHEGAN

For about 15 minutes or so after Ratoath defeated - or should that be shocked - Kiltale in the SHC semi-final there was a flurry of activity around the winners' dressing room underneath the Pairc Tailteann stand.

A lot of smiles, hugs and back clapping went on among the victors. Then it all went quiet, as everyone involved piled into the dressing room and the door was closed. Manager Michael Connolly wanted to have a few words with his players. Understandable.

The length he was inside suggests he had quite a few words and while we are not privy to what was said (and politeness prevented us from asking what was discussed in such a private format) there can be little doubt words such as "well done" and "congratulations" were bandied about by the young manager.

It's something of a miracle Connolly and his troops are now preparing for a final they have every chance of winning. They lost three group games but here they are, still believing, still harbouring the hope they can be the first Ratoath team to win the Jubilee Cup since 1963.

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Connolly, when he did re-emerge from the dressing room to talk to the Meath Chronicle, admitted only some downright, dumb luck and freakish turns of fate have combined to keep Ratoath in the championship. All that, added to the fact that against Kiltale, Ratoath seemed to finally find their mojo and produce the kind of quality hurling they have been threatening to produce since the championship started.

"We had a very indifferent group stage, we didn't play well at all and we were lucky to be still in it at the end of the group phase," he said as he stood outside the dressing room.

He talked of how the team performed in patches such as in the closing stages against Kildalkey in their group match and how Lady Luck beamed down on them when Na Fianna could only draw with St Peter's, a result that offered a chink of light. "That result kept us in it, so we are happy enough to be where we are now, we've no reason to complain."

It's not clear whether he is a racing man or not but Connolly will have heard all about the proverbial horse that doesn't perform early in a race but in the final furlongs sparkles into life and sneaks victory in the final yards. Ratoath look a lot like that right now; a team that have kept their best until last - and it could be a factor in helping them across the line on Sunday.

As affable and friendly a chap as you are likely to meet along a touchline during a hurling game Connolly would, we guess, find humour in his team's comparison to a horse moving up along the rails, but his background suggests he is a serious operator when it comes to preparing teams. Modest, but serious.

He played hurling with his home club (the colourfully named Fourmilewater) in Waterford, merely a lengthy puck or two away from the Tipperary border. He moved to Dublin and hooked up with the famous Faughs club. He coached there as well as with Dublin underage teams winning "a few Leinster titles" during his sojourn with the Light Blues.

Living in Ratoath for some time now Connolly, like his counterpart in Sunday's final, is a young manager at the foothills of his coaching career. Guiding Ratoath to a Jubilee Cup success after so long in the desert would be quite an addition to his CV; a real coup.

Even talking to him for a few minutes it's obvious he has a clear vision on how he wants his teams to play. It's an approach that is a throw-back to the good old days when men were men and a player was asked to get the best of his immediate marker first and foremost before embarking on any fancy forays up or down the field. It's a refreshingly straightforward approach from a young coach in the modern game where science and complicated tactics dominate.

"I normally prefer to see a team play less tactical hurling, let the ball move and let the fallas sort it out themselves and take it from there," he said.

The manager's comments also suggested something else. That he feels the real force in his team can be found in the forward division. "It was a different kind of game against Kiltale than other matches in that the wind was a factor. Both teams who played against the wind fell back to defend so that both attacking ends were more in play than in earlier parts of the championship, I think that suited us more," he added.

Not surprisingly the young Ratoath manager suggests Trim will be "justified favourites". Against that he also offers hope to Ratoath supporters by suggesting that despite his team's lacklustre form in the group stages there won't be too much between the sides on Sunday.

"The top four or five teams in Meath are comparable to any team I have seen in other counties, from what I've seen anyway, and there isn't much difference between those teams," he added.

"The senior championship here is really competitive. Everyone was giving as good as they got in games we played. They gave as good as they got, then they got up and got on with things as well, which is all good. I've learned a lot since taking charge of Ratoath including the fact that there's very good hurlers in this county."

Some of those are in his own team and now, somehow, they are within reach of the big prize.