One man has waited 25 years for this opportunity
THE INTERVIEW
Mike Finnerty
TWENTY-FIVE years. That’s how long Martin Connolly has been teaching at Rice College in Westport. Teaching and training football teams and waiting for the chance to lead them into an All-Ireland Final. Last Thursday afternoon, with Shane Conway bay his side, Connolly looked around and savoured the moment. Rice College were there. For the first time.
“We spent years losing Connacht semi-finals and replays by a point,” he recalled. “Penalty decisions went against us... you name it. This team will break up after the final so this is our chance. And you don’t get too many chances to win an All-Ireland medal.”
Next Sunday will be the culmination of, literally, a lifetime’s work for the PE teacher from Ballindine. He and Shane Conway have built this Rice College team from scratch over the last five years, winning three Connacht senior B championships but coming up just short of a crack at the All-Ireland. Not any more.
“At the very start of the year we weren’t talking about winning an All-Ireland but we told the lads that way out in the distance, there’s an All-Ireland, and we’ll talk about it when we get to the final,” admitted Connolly. “We’re there now so let’s talk about it now and have a right rattle at it.
“A lot of these lads would have eight Connacht medals between second year, junior and senior. They’ve played a lot of football together and we all get on well together. They’ll do what they’re told because I suppose they feel Shane and I have the ability to guide them in the right direction. And they’re a talented bunch, very mature, most of the time,” he smiled.
Rice College’s journey has been a remarkable one. In a year where the school has suffered so much heartbreak and tragedy, the football team has provided an outlet for students and teachers alike. Both players and management have dedicated a huge chunk of their lives to bringing an All-Ireland back to Westport.
And yet, Martin Connolly conceded, it almost went horribly wrong on a rotten day in Charlestown back in February.
”Yes, against Summerhill in the Connacht semi-final,” he nodded. “We’d played with a gale force breeze and were a couple of points up at half-time. Then they got a fortuitous goal to level the match with fifteen minutes to go. So we were against the breeze, level, and we looked to be in trouble. But we scraped it. Shane Moran went in and fisted a point. It was real backs-to-the-wall stuff. That was the day.”
There were no such dramatics last Thursday. Rice College had fifteen points to spare at the end and dealt with every challenge, robust tackle and question with confidence and composure.
“It was a lot easier than I expected to be honest,” admitted Martin Connolly. “We’d heard good reports about Abbey and were genuinely worried about them. We were even more worried after a minute when they stuck a goal. But we reacted really well to that setback, hitting three or four points straight away, and we had the game won really about fifteen minutes into the second half.
“Our discipline was very good. We held our heads and didn’t get involved. That was something that Shane [Conway] and myself have talked to them about and we had them well warned.”
Now for the final, a chance for this team to fulfil their destiny. And their manager knows it.
“We’re where we wanted to be all year,” he said. “This is our third time coming out of Connacht and we want to make it count now. We’d like to follow the likes of Ballinrobe, Ballaghaderreen and Colman’s, who have all gone on to win it out. This is our chance.”
