SFC Final Focus: Management sustaining Gillespie's competitive edge

Regarded as Meath's finest midfielder of his generation Conor Gillespie isn’t too bad at this management lark either.

Next Sunday his maiden year as a top flight manager will continue as he leads his club Summerhill into battle against high-flying Ratoath in the Meath SFC final at Pairc Tailteann and he can't wait.

Cartilage degeneration in his knee ended Gillespie's playing days in the green and gold in early 2015. Prior to that he announced himself on the main stage for Meath as an outstanding midfielder in Leinster finals against Dublin in 2012 and 2013 before a cruciate ligament rupture in 2014 halted his progress.

Gillespie did make fleeting appearances for Summerhill in the years that followed, but he never got back to the heights he had hoped for.

Now management fills the gap left behind by not being able to play and Gillespie is enjoying this chapter of his Gaelic football career.

"I got involved because I felt there was a team there that was capable of doing something. That is a pretty strong incentive when you see there is a very strong crop of players in your own club and you think you can help them get the best out of themselves," Gillespie told the Meath Chronicle.

"I'd much rather be playing with the lads than managing them, but that's not the way it has ended up for me, so this is the next closest thing that I can get to keep those competitive juices flowing and to stay involved.

"I want to try to make a difference because we won't always be capable of winning championships in Summerhill. It doesn't always happen that you are there every year, but at the minute we have the players that are capable of doing it so it is enjoyable to be part of that.

"I personally enjoy it (the build up). The level of thinking you have to put into everything, making sure that the training is done well is the most enjoyable bit of management. I enjoy the preparation for the Tuesday and the Thursday and then the weekend, I enjoying trying to pit my wits against the ultimate opposition," he said.

Next Sunday Ratoath will provide that ultimate test and Gillespie is looking forward to the challenge the 2019 and 2020 champions will bring.

He is sure that the experience the Summerhill players have built up over the last few years will stand to them and he is hopefully his side will complete the job he always believed they are capable of doing.

"I expect a very significant challenge next Sunday. Ratoath are playing really good stuff this year. I don't know what has fully changed for them this year, but I think they have stepped on a bit more from the last two years.

"They are playing a confident, expressive kind of football, really good stuff, they're going to be a proper challenge in the final.

"We wouldn't be putting in all the effort that we have put in since the start of the year if we didn't believe that we could achieve something, I'm sure Ratoath are in the same boat.

"The reality is that both teams are going to approach the game and prepare on the basis that they think they are going to win, then it is down to whoever does it on the day.

"This is going to be the seventh final for some of our lads. Going all the way back to 2008 (final loss to Navan O'Mahonys) when we have four or five lads who played in that game. This group have experienced it all, winning finals, losing finals, drawing finals.

"Summerhill would always see themselves as contenders, so yes we thought we would have a chance to win this year and nothing has changed throughout the season to change my opinion on that.

"We have been very lucky with the crop of players that we have had over the last extended period of time. We didn't always have great Div 1 underage teams, but when we do get good teams we get a good crop off those teams.

"Even on the underage teams that weren't that good we generally still got a player or two off those sides too.

"There is a huge passion for the club within the community and that keeps lads engaged.

"There are loads of lads that maybe weren't brilliant at minor, but they kept playing because of the club and because they like it and they keep improving, then they turn into quality senior footballers.

"Even our non-superstar youngster still go on and turn into good quality senior footballers, that gives us a level of having a squad that allows us be competitive over the years.

"The profile of our squad is that we have lads that have been playing for 15 years who are still playing well, but they're not going to last forever. Some of those guys will eventually fall away.

"At the same time we have a good group of youngsters coming through, like the team that were in the Div 1 minor final in 2019. They are coming to the age where they can play senior and we still have the group at the latter end playing good stuff and then we have a great bunch in the middle of that too.

"It's a peak time for us as a club, the age profile works perfectly for us right now."

Do the memories of the final defeats in 2017, '18 and '19 still linger in the minds? Is there scar tissue remaining from those losses?

"I wouldn't see it as scar tissue. Lads would be open enough to admit that they didn't play well enough in those finals they lost, so they didn't deserve to win those finals.

"They are very clear that if you play well enough on the day then you will win, there's no real issue around it being a final or a semi-finals, they know that in any game if they play well enough they will win.

"I don't think there is a huge mental barrier that needs to be hurdled there, they just need to perform good enough on the day, it's as simple as that."

There is no denying that Summerhill's strength-in-depth is one of the key components of their success and Gillespie is happy to have selection headaches ahead of next Sunday's final. "They're good headaches to have. You'd much rather be involved in a team where you have difficult conversations when choosing between very good players to put on the pitch.

"The lads know that whoever is playing the best generally gets in the team, or there might be a specific match-up needed for a specific day, that's the way it works and the lads get on with that, the most important thing is that what's best for Summerhill is best for everyone," insists the manager.