Connolly hails ‘brilliant performance’ as third All-Ireland final beckons

Rice College manager Darragh Connolly could hardly have asked for a better All-Ireland semi-final performance than this. 

His side did not yield a single shot on target and took the Ulster champions for four goals; enough to instil belief, but not so much that you’d get ahead of yourself. 

Singling out the back four of Eoghan Moran, Sean Casey, Darragh Reynolds and Tom McGeough, he described the performance as ‘fantastic’ in every area of the pitch. 

“We’ve been defensively solid all year so it’s not a surprise,” the Rice College múinteoir Gaeilge told The Mayo News after the game.

“It’s an amazing display to keep a clean sheet and I don’t think there was a shot on target which was a feather in the lads’ cap.” 

The artificial surface – far from a new venture for this group – was one that suited them down to the ground (literally) according to their captain Jamie O’Malley. 

“We like to pass the ball, get it wide and get in early crosses so it suits the style of play we play. If it was a muddy pitch we wouldn’t really be able to play that kind of style of football,” said O’Malley, who missed the Connacht final meeting with St Muredach’s of Ballina. 

“I didn’t think it would be that big of a win for us but we played our football, turned up and were physical and we got the win,” O’Malley admitted. 

The Westport United youngster is now hoping history will repeat itself when they meet the winners of Tramore’s Ardscoil na Mara and Portmarnock Community School.

“A lot of us played last year as well so we’re ready,” he said. 

“We’ll be up for anything that is thrown at us. We’ll have the composure and hopefully we can go and win it.”

There’s not just one thing that has brought about Rice College’s unprecedented success on the soccer field over the past three years, according to Connolly. 

“Obviously club football is a big thing in Westport and that’s having a big emphasis on our school team as well. But just the work ethic and the composure, that’s a word we use a good bit,” he said. 

“That really shows through in this team. We’ve gone behind in games, we’ve been 2-0 up and came back to 2-2 and had to dig a goal out in the last minute so we’ve kind of faced a multitude of different situations and the lads just found a way to win the game. I think they know that themselves.”

His message to the Rice College school community? 

“If we can replicate the scenes in Athlone last year I think everyone would like to see that. The school is great for backing us, great for getting behind us. We’re just glad to give them another day our singing and chanting.”

You heard it.