ST MICHAEL’S COLLEGE Enniskillen manager Dominic Corrigan made a comment in the build-up to Saturday’s Hogan Cup final that summed up his philosophy on the game.
“You should never turn a great forward into an average defender,” he stated.
Corrigan was making a broader point that Gaelic football is beginning to shift back towards a more attacking style at inter-county level. The Hogan Cup is a breeding ground for future inter-county talent and this year’s competition bodes well for the game.
St Michael’s defeated Naas CBS to take the All-Ireland Colleges’ A title for the first time in their history, doing so with a brand of football that’s easy on the eye and heavy on kick-passing.
Their squad was made up entirely of Fermanagh players which points to a bright future for football in the county.
“It’s a tremendous lift to Fermanagh football,” said a delighted Corrigan after the game.
“It’s going to give energy to all aspects of Fermanagh football, from underage right up to senior level. It is a fantastic victory for everybody involved and it’s a massive, massive tonic for Fermanagh football going forward.
“An All-Ireland title for Fermanagh. I’m very proud, very emotional. There has been long hours, serious time and work put into it over the years and to finally get our hands on it today and the players asked me to go up and receive the cup, which is a nice touch from them. I was happy to do it. It was very special.”
They left a number of forwards up in attacking positions, which aided their transition game and benefited talented shooters Micheal Glynn, Darragh McBrien and Conor Love. That trio hit 1-10 of Enniskillen’s 1-12 tally and alongside midfielder Brandon Horan, look destined for brighter things in the game.
Indeed, captain Horan spent some time training with Rory Gallagher’s Fermanagh panel last summer and is likely to be offered a call-up before the start of the Ulster championship.
“Brandon is ready, there’s no question about that,” said Corrigan.
“When I appointed him captain way back in September I could see the quality in him, on and off the pitch – he’s a fantastic leader, a fantastic footballer. I’d have no qualms about Brandon going into any county set-up.
“I think Fermanagh would be the better for Brandon if he does decide to go in. He’s well capable and maybe one or two others as well. Rory will be very pleased to have some of that quality coming through and it’s great for the Fermanagh senior team and it’s great for Fermanagh football in general.”
Watch the GAANOW Full-Time Highlights of the Hogan Cup Final between Naas CBS (Kildare) V St Michaels College Enniskillen (Fermanagh) pic.twitter.com/zDow9BuiMG
— The GAA (@officialgaa) April 6, 2019
The irony is that Fermanagh seniors play a brand of football that’s alien to these St Michael’s players. Horan and Love were part of the talented Enniskillen Gaels side that lifted the 2017 Ulster minor title, scoring 6-27 on their three-game run through the province.
The St Michael’s gallop to the Hogan Cup crown has been based on Corrigan’s game-plan that at its core encourages his players to express themselves.
Granted they only pull players from 20 clubs, but Fermanagh were the joint-lowest scorers in the four tiers of this year’s Allianz Football League along with London who finished bottom of Division 4.
Gallagher’s side play a notoriously defensive-style that sees them drop their entire team behind the ball and drag the game into the trenches. It’s not great to watch and can’t be that much fun to play in either.
For different reasons, two of the best forwards the Ernesiders have produced in the last decade, Tomas Corrigan and Seamus Quigley, are not part of their panel in 2019.
The Fermanagh boss is entitled to play whatever system he wants and will point to the run to last summer’s Ulster decider and their recent third-place finish in Division 2 as signs of progress.
But by stifling attacking play and given the ever increasing demands of the modern game, Fermanagh risk losing the next batch of talented youngsters unless representing the county at senior level becomes an attractive prospect.
Sure, the inter-county game is a results business but there are infinitely better ways for a 19-year-old to spend his summers than playing football while constrained in a metaphorical straight jacket.
But that’s a matter for another day.
This win has been a long time coming for Corrigan, who managed Fermanagh in 2002 and 2003. He’s enjoyed tremendous success at club level, guiding Conor McManus’s Clontibret to the Monaghan SFC title in 2014 and Tiernan McCann’s Kilyclogher to Tyrone SFC glory in 2016.
He said the victory was “up there at the top” with his best achievements in the game.
“In 1957 the college opened. In 1973 we won our first MacRory. We’ve strived and fought hard all those years but to have ended up with the Holy Grail today of the All-Ireland Colleges’ A title, we’re in heaven.
“We’re in heaven and I will tell you what, if heaven when we depart this earth is anything like this here, I will want to go there.
“There’s something special about colleges football. There’s something special about winning McRory Cups but today as I said earlier, I’m in heaven. This is up there. Nothing beats this.”
Corrigan began teaching in St Michael’s in 1999 and they’ve collected five McRory Cups under his stewardship since then. Having lost on their two previous trips to the Hogan Cup finals in 2002 and 2012, the former Fermanagh midfielder was determined not to leave headquarters empty-handed on this occasion.
“I used it as a valuable learning experience. Pick up things that I felt we didn’t do that well in the finals. I used them as a positive. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
“We knew that 2002 and 2012 we didn’t perform on the day but today certainly we were ready to perform. I felt from the outset this year that this team were well capable of delivering the goods on the provincial stage and on the national stage and that’s how it proved.”
He built a strong backroom team that featured former Down star Conor Laverty and Tyrone midfielder Richard Donnelly. They even brought the players in for a walk around Croke Park on Friday to prepare them mentally for the big day, staying in Dublin that night.
“We were in here (on Friday). It took this thing about Croke Park and people being put-off by it, it done away with that. It dispelled any myths about Croke Park, it’s another pitch albeit a better playing surface and a wider playing surface than anything else.
“We were absolutely primed to deliver a big performance today and that’s exactly what we did.
“We knew were we coming here today for another massive battle. We got that. It was a fantastic game of football but I think we were the better side over the course of the 60 minutes.
“We made life difficult for ourselves at the finish, I thought we could have nailed another couple of scores when we were on top in that second period. But I thought our second-half performance was outstanding and I think we are deservedly All-Ireland champions.”
It wasn’t long before his thoughts turned to next year.
“There’s about six, seven or eight of them around next year so we’ll be looking to build on that. I’m certainly not a man to sit back on achievements. I want to build on it and that’s what I’ll be doing.
“I’ll be back next year. I’m going nowhere.”
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