LONDON SFC FINAL 2006 - PREVIEW

GAA London SFC Final Preview

Tara to make history

By John Collins (Irish World)

If you are the sort of person who believes in signs and omens and all that sort of wish-wash, then you are probably the sort of person who will also be tipping St Brendans to win the 2006 Senior Football final on Saturday.

If on the other hand, you tend to be guided by cold-hard facts, then there will be little doubt that you will be putting your hard earned shillings on Tara to lift their second title of this decade.

The facts of the matter are, that on the evidence of their semi-final performance against Tir Chonaill Gaels, Tara are the best team in London at the moment. That’s not to say that they are by any stretch of the imagination a great team, but they are nonetheless a football team with more positives than negatives, more assets than liabilities and the greater potential to produce something special on any given day.

St Brendans on the other hand, have a modest determination and a collection of players, that while by no means being untalented, are nevertheless less star-studded than some of their previous offering over the past three or four years.

And that is where are the hocus-pocus believers come into the frame and this is where history favours the Brendans as they face into this final encounter.

Twice before St Brendans have lifted the London title and on both occasions, in 1994 and in 2002, they had lost the decider the previous year. This time round they face into the final having also lost at the last hurdle in 2005. Omen number one to Peter McNally’s team.

On each of those two occasions when the were slain at the last only to rise to the summit the following year, it was Tir Chonaill Gaels who were the slayers, in last year’s decider again it was the Gaels who defeated St Brendans – omen number two to the men in green and white.

And omen number three also will have the superstitious penning the name of the Brendans on their betting slip, and that is that on the one previous occasion that these two teams have met in the decider, it was St Brendans who came out on top back in 1994.

But that is just all gobbledygook in the real world of Championship football.

Statistic and history books are just there to keep idle minds like my own occupied as we while away the hours between the various sporting fixtures we spend our humble lives meandering between and commenting on.

The truths of the real world however, often teach us that statistic are merely the filler in a sandwich of reality.

The real cold hard fact of the London Championship for 2006 are that the tough, abrasive exterior of the Tara team has weathered the storm better than any other.

Despite having lost players of the quality of Paul McDermott and Damien McKenna in recent months and also being without the services of Sean Quinn, Senan Hehir, Jim Ryan and Stuart McKenzie-Smith, they still beat Championship favourites Tir Chonaill Gaels at their ease in the semi-final.

No other team in London could have coped with such loses and still come out on top. And that fact is where the realities of life beat the history books into oblivion.

Even though they were without half a dozen first choice players from their start of the year team, Tara still were able to showcase talent of the calibre of Conor Beirne, Damien Healy, Paul Hehir and Chris Donnellan in their starting XV. On top of that, they have a total of nine London-bred players in their squad, with six of those on the starting team. That’s a quite amazing cocktail of talent for any club to produce.

St Brendans on the other hand have a respectable collection of players, although they are missing that real “wow factor” that players like Shane Manley, Shane McAnarney, Barry Solen and Niall Clinton brought to them last year. That lack of real star quality could well be decisive on Saturday.

Of those that they do have, several of their long-term servants are still playing superbly well, with keeper Billy Molloy, now in his fifth season with the club, proving to be as reliable as ever.

In front of him, last year’s skipper Paul Tierney and centre back Fergal Greenan have never being found wanting; while in attack this year’s captain Adrian Brett, gave a virtuoso performance in difficulty conditions last Sunday.

On top of that, Simon Cullen showed great awareness, work-rate and intelligence throughout the game and Peter McNally will be looking for more of the same from his number 11 come Saturday.

By no means is this game going to be a cake-walk for Martin Murtagh’s men, and should they turn up with an eye on January’s game against the Munster Champions, then they will almost certainly come unstuck. Somehow I think that they have that little too much about them for that to happen.

The key battle in the game will be on the edge of the Brendans’ square, where Louth man Paul Malone will be taking on the formidable presence of Paul Hehir. Should Hehir deliver a showing like he did in the semi-final against Paddy Callaghan, then Tara will win.

However, Malone is without doubt the best full back in London at present. His size will mean that Hehir will not be able to physically dominate him.

Chris Donnellan, a well deserved man-of-the-match in the semi-final, will also play an important part in the Tara bid for glory. His likely man-marker, the vastly under-stated Fergal Greenan, has previously proven his calibre against the likes of Ciaran McDonald and certainly won’t be found wanting in the defensive department.

At the other end of the field, Adrian Brett will test Darren McGee to the maximum and despite two outstanding showings in the past two games against Ger O’Shea and Darragh Kinneavey, McGee will know that those past achievements will mean nothing against an attacker in top form, in the shape of the Brendans’ skipper.

As a former St Brendans player, obviously the heart goes with my old club, however, the reality-checker tells me that Tara are the better equipped side and that the “lose one, before you win one” record of St Brendans is about to come to an end.

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