“WHERE ELSE WOULD you want to be on St Patrick’s Day, only playing an All-Ireland final in Croke Park?”
That’s what former Sligo footballer Mark Breheny is telling his Summerhill College side ahead of tomorrow’s Hogan Cup final.
“It’s our second final ever,” Breheny explainsas the Sligo secondary school gear up to face Omagh CBS at GAA HQ [throw in 1pm]. “The previous one was in 1985, that’s a long time ago. The school is really excited about it. Delighted to be there.”
There’s history on the horizon. That ’85 decider ended in defeat, and no Sligo school has ever lifted the Hogan Cup.
This Summerhill outfit have enjoyed a brilliant run thus far. It will hit new heights tomorrow, as they turn from Croke Park fans to players.
Backboned by Sligo county minors and U20s who enjoyed provincial success, they came out on top of a challenging Connacht campaign, and added another impressive achievement with an All-Ireland semi-final win over St Brendan’s College, Killarney.
Last year’s beaten All-Ireland finalists, The Sem, are school football aristocrats.
Resilience and fight got Summerhill over the line; ups and downs and character building constants throughout.
“Obviously you would have looked at the past pupils that the Sem would have had, and their reputation,” Breheny says. “They were finalists from last year and Munster champions over the last huge amount of time. We knew we were up against it.
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“What was important for us was that we just kept playing the way we were playing in Connacht and kept trusting ourselves and stuck to our own process. We just took them on head on.
Final whistle CIC 2 -11 St.Brendan’s 1-11 Summerhill now for All Ireland Glory!!! Congrats to all of the team and management 👏👏🙌🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/1nTYkwdFVL
“It was a huge achievement, to beat a Kerry team in a top-tier competition for Sligo, it’s very much a rarity. If ever it happened before, I’m not sure. It was fantastic. The school and the GAA community in Sligo are all following us and backing us for this final now, it’s great to see.”
Breheny is co-manager alongside Joe Neary, with Luke Bree and Caroline McGoldrick also in the set-up. An inter-county player with Sligo for 17 years, Breheny is thoroughly enjoying the coaching and management side of the game.
He has has remained heavily involved in Yeats county backroom teams at various levels, serving as senior selector under Tony McEntee, while he guided St Mary’s to a first Sligo senior final since 2016 last year.
“It’s different. When I retired with Sligo in 2018, I found it tough retiring at the time and looking to see what’s the next step. I would have been coaching with Summerhill over the years anyway, combining my coaching with playing. It’s once you stop playing, and you get into the coaching and management a bit more full-time, you see things from different perspectives.
Breheny facing Mayo in 2017. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s really enjoyable, they’re a wonderful group. Myself and Joe have probably taken them from first year all the way through here. We’re delighted with the progress. They’re a great bunch of guys and it’s a real privilege to be involved with them. They’re great workers.
“From a management point of view, I’m really enjoying it. I looked after my club for the first time as manager last year. That was new to me, and I really enjoyed that. It’s that replacement for when you’re not playing and it’s really exciting for me to be involved as a former Summerhill student, for me to be now part of a management team leading out onto Croke Park on Patrick’s day, it’s a real dream come true.”
The Business and Maths teacher hails the team effort across the board; the bond and collegiality amongst the players as they strike the fine balance between education and football and maintain high standards on and off the field.
They’ve relished the journey, soaked in the build-up, and it’s all about tomorrow now.
“We were delighted to win a Connacht campaign, we were delighted to win a semi-final and the lads have again refocused their minds to now win the Hogan Cup for the first time in our history,” Breheny nods.
“But it won’t be easy. We know the calibre of team we’re coming across. Omagh destroyed the champions from last year in the semi-final, so we know we’re coming across a serious team. They’re always strong in Ulster, they’ve a lot of Tyrone minors for the last couple of years.
“They’re going to be fairly formidable, I’m sure they’re hotly-fancied to win this as well. We’re probably coming in in a good position that we’re underdogs, we like that title.”
Massive weekend ahead. Tomorrow, Friday, we have a #Sligo team in an All Ireland final - what's rare is beautiful! All in @sligogaa wish @cicsummerhill the best - a team with players from 7 clubs in Sligo who have nurtured their abilities from nursery up. Go make memories pic.twitter.com/jpFUtMF9Si
And what better field to take to than Croke Park? Either way, it’s going to be an incredible experience, but the 82,300 capacity venue is a different animal.
Particularly when turning from HQ fans to players.
“There’s two ways to look at it,” Breheny concludes. “It can either swallow you up, or you can just totally embrace it and play the game that you always dreamt of playing on the biggest and best pitch in Ireland, and the best stadium.
“That’s what we’re saying to the lads. This is a fantastic opportunity, embrace it.
“It would have been an enjoyable venue for Sligo teams at times, even the last 20 years or so. We had a couple of victories, couple of defeats over the years. Our lads, they would have seen it on telly and they’ve gone to matches in Croke Park.
“Sligo played there against Cavan last year in the Tailteann Cup. They’ve been around it now the last while. A lot of them haven’t played in it, but they’re really looking forward to it. I don’t think it’ll hopefully have any any major factor on them, we acclimatise fairly quickly in the game and just get on with it. We hope that will be the case again.”
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'Really excited about it' - The Sligo side seeking All-Ireland final glory in Croke Park
“WHERE ELSE WOULD you want to be on St Patrick’s Day, only playing an All-Ireland final in Croke Park?”
That’s what former Sligo footballer Mark Breheny is telling his Summerhill College side ahead of tomorrow’s Hogan Cup final.
“It’s our second final ever,” Breheny explains as the Sligo secondary school gear up to face Omagh CBS at GAA HQ [throw in 1pm]. “The previous one was in 1985, that’s a long time ago. The school is really excited about it. Delighted to be there.”
There’s history on the horizon. That ’85 decider ended in defeat, and no Sligo school has ever lifted the Hogan Cup.
This Summerhill outfit have enjoyed a brilliant run thus far. It will hit new heights tomorrow, as they turn from Croke Park fans to players.
Backboned by Sligo county minors and U20s who enjoyed provincial success, they came out on top of a challenging Connacht campaign, and added another impressive achievement with an All-Ireland semi-final win over St Brendan’s College, Killarney.
Last year’s beaten All-Ireland finalists, The Sem, are school football aristocrats.
Resilience and fight got Summerhill over the line; ups and downs and character building constants throughout.
“Obviously you would have looked at the past pupils that the Sem would have had, and their reputation,” Breheny says. “They were finalists from last year and Munster champions over the last huge amount of time. We knew we were up against it.
“What was important for us was that we just kept playing the way we were playing in Connacht and kept trusting ourselves and stuck to our own process. We just took them on head on.
“It was a huge achievement, to beat a Kerry team in a top-tier competition for Sligo, it’s very much a rarity. If ever it happened before, I’m not sure. It was fantastic. The school and the GAA community in Sligo are all following us and backing us for this final now, it’s great to see.”
Breheny is co-manager alongside Joe Neary, with Luke Bree and Caroline McGoldrick also in the set-up. An inter-county player with Sligo for 17 years, Breheny is thoroughly enjoying the coaching and management side of the game.
He has has remained heavily involved in Yeats county backroom teams at various levels, serving as senior selector under Tony McEntee, while he guided St Mary’s to a first Sligo senior final since 2016 last year.
“It’s different. When I retired with Sligo in 2018, I found it tough retiring at the time and looking to see what’s the next step. I would have been coaching with Summerhill over the years anyway, combining my coaching with playing. It’s once you stop playing, and you get into the coaching and management a bit more full-time, you see things from different perspectives.
“It’s really enjoyable, they’re a wonderful group. Myself and Joe have probably taken them from first year all the way through here. We’re delighted with the progress. They’re a great bunch of guys and it’s a real privilege to be involved with them. They’re great workers.
“From a management point of view, I’m really enjoying it. I looked after my club for the first time as manager last year. That was new to me, and I really enjoyed that. It’s that replacement for when you’re not playing and it’s really exciting for me to be involved as a former Summerhill student, for me to be now part of a management team leading out onto Croke Park on Patrick’s day, it’s a real dream come true.”
The Business and Maths teacher hails the team effort across the board; the bond and collegiality amongst the players as they strike the fine balance between education and football and maintain high standards on and off the field.
They’ve relished the journey, soaked in the build-up, and it’s all about tomorrow now.
“We were delighted to win a Connacht campaign, we were delighted to win a semi-final and the lads have again refocused their minds to now win the Hogan Cup for the first time in our history,” Breheny nods.
“But it won’t be easy. We know the calibre of team we’re coming across. Omagh destroyed the champions from last year in the semi-final, so we know we’re coming across a serious team. They’re always strong in Ulster, they’ve a lot of Tyrone minors for the last couple of years.
“They’re going to be fairly formidable, I’m sure they’re hotly-fancied to win this as well. We’re probably coming in in a good position that we’re underdogs, we like that title.”
And what better field to take to than Croke Park? Either way, it’s going to be an incredible experience, but the 82,300 capacity venue is a different animal.
Particularly when turning from HQ fans to players.
“There’s two ways to look at it,” Breheny concludes. “It can either swallow you up, or you can just totally embrace it and play the game that you always dreamt of playing on the biggest and best pitch in Ireland, and the best stadium.
“That’s what we’re saying to the lads. This is a fantastic opportunity, embrace it.
“It would have been an enjoyable venue for Sligo teams at times, even the last 20 years or so. We had a couple of victories, couple of defeats over the years. Our lads, they would have seen it on telly and they’ve gone to matches in Croke Park.
“Sligo played there against Cavan last year in the Tailteann Cup. They’ve been around it now the last while. A lot of them haven’t played in it, but they’re really looking forward to it. I don’t think it’ll hopefully have any any major factor on them, we acclimatise fairly quickly in the game and just get on with it. We hope that will be the case again.”
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