HOW DO YOU prepare for your club’s biggest game in 20 years?

The same way that you would prepare for any other.

“We got together in early 2013 same as every other team in the country,” Castlebar Mitchels goalkeeper Ciaran Naughton says. 

“We set out a plan that we wouldn’t do anything special but whatever we did, we’d do it right and with good intensity.”

“We got into the gym and trained hard and said we’d prepare for every game correctly.

Whether it was a challenge match, a league game or a championship game, we didn’t do anything differently the whole way through.

The Connacht champions meet perennial bridesmaids Dr Crokes in the AIB All-Ireland Club SFC semi-finals tomorrow. They go in as three-point underdogs, adding to an already daunting prospect.

Taking things one step at a time has paid dividends. Never looking too far into the future, Castlebar have only lost one competitive game this season — their league opener against Breaffy — and rode that form all the way to the county final.

The sleeping giants of Mayo football were awake again. The win against Breaffy clinched their 28th title, a record only bettered by Ballina’s 36, but crucially it was their first since 1993, drawing a line under their wilderness years.

Nobody gave them a chance against Corofin in the Connacht semis, or against reigning All-Ireland champions St Brigid’s Roscommon, but Castlebar found a way in the final and ground out a four-point win after extra time.

“It was a very unusual game. You couldn’t really rest on your laurels at any stage because there were so many things happening. Once you thought you had it won, it was level, and you were four points down, then you were level again. The game kind of to-ed and fro-ed the whole time.”

Naughton, right, with Eoin Brosnan of Dr Crokes. INPHO / Cathal Noonan INPHO / Cathal Noonan / Cathal Noonan

Naughton has been around the block in his 14 seasons between the posts for Castlebar, and there has been no shortage of ups and downs. In recent years, back-to-back defeats in the 2010 and 2011 county finals hung over the club.

Living and working in Dublin, with a twice-weekly commute for training and games, there were times, he admits, when it might have been easier to pack it in.

You need to stick at it because you only get out what you put in. There were a few years where it was tough coming back into it again but you just roll your socks up and keep at it. It’s what you’re used to.

Beating Brigid’s was a massive boost.

“It doesn’t do the confidence any harm anyway. We took Brigid’s as [another] game — we prepared for it, we wanted to put in a good performance, we were a bit sluggish to get out of the blocks but we stuck at it and we ground out a result. We had to go to extra time but you just get over the line.”

He adds: “Since we got out of Mayo we’ve been underdogs but we don’t really mind that tag.

“We don’t be going into bookies or anything like that looking at the odds to see if you’re going to win or lose. You just keep the heads down and prepare and it’s all on the day.”

If Castlebar are determined to make this season count, Naughton knows that Crokes will be fired up tomorrow.

And maybe they’ll be feeling a little bit of pressure.

“They’ve been there or thereabouts the last couple of years, and won three Munster titles in a row. I know they’ve been unlucky at the semi-finals stage but their experience has to stand to them as well.

“It’s similar to us in the county final. We were knocking on the door for a few years and finally got it this year. A side of the quality of Crokes, they’re going to get there at some stage.”

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