By Brendan McTaggart
Seconds after the final whistle at Páirc Tailteann, the pitch invasion came. Men, women and children of all ages made their way onto the Navan pitch to be with their heroes who had just made yet more history. Naomh Éanna were now All-Ireland finalists and they aren’t finished yet.
Somewhere among the swarm of well-wishers, stood the proudest man in Ireland. Frank Fitzsimons is getting used to days like these and the former Antrim manager told us he wanted the guys to believe in themselves ahead of the match with An Spidéal: “The last thing we wanted was to come down here, don’t perform and get beat. That’s all we asked and they did it.
“It’s absolutely fantastic for the club and the travelling support. Travelling down to see these boys you know. It’s super for the club.”
Since taking on the role last year, Fitzsimons has guided Naomh Éanna through success the likes of which the club has never seen before. With the dark history the club has had to endure, the Naomh Éanna manager said it makes days like Sunday even more special: “I probably have a better understanding of that than most of the young lads. I played in those days when things were tough. Listen, the first night I left from training was one of the very few nights I left Naomh Éanna without a bruise on me. They were always a tough team and a smashing club but these young lads are brilliant.
“It’s (this year) been brilliant but when you’re winning everything’s good. When you see boys going out and expressing themselves like they did for the most of the game, a lot of that comes from the coaching we’ve done all year and it’s very good to see that on the day.”
Naomh Éanna produced a controlled performance on Sunday. On a day where it would have been easy to get carried away with the occasion and lost in the hysteria, the Glengormley side played with the same no fear attitude they have shown all year. Fitzsimons told us: “When you have boys like Peter Healy, Kristian Healy, Odhran Eastwood and James McAuley. Calm heads, fantastic. Eoin Nagle was brilliant up front, I don’t think he lost a ball all day. I think it’s going to take a good team to beat us.
“I’m so proud of them boys out there today.
“You never think like that (comfortable) along the line. You have to keep on the game all the time.”
Joe Maskey’s outrageous goal towards the end of the first half gave Naomh Éanna a deserving nine point lead, such was their dominance during the first half. Fitzsimons admitted they were aware of Maghnus Breathnach joining the An Spidéal attack, having watched the Galway sides previous games. They had a plan in place for when the ‘keeper left his lines but told us: “Ah Jesus. We worked on it but we didn’t work on Joe to score a goal from over 55 yards. It was a great strike.”
The Hightown Road side now turn their attentions to Croke Park on February 9 and a date with Kerry champions Kilcummin. Fitzsimons said that he wants his side to enjoy the build up to the final in just under three weeks time: “They’ll get a couple of days and everything will be brought back down to earth again. It’s a massive, massive prize in front of them now. An All-Ireland Final but I think the build up has to be enjoyed as well. You can’t just lock them indoors, they need to enjoy it and they have been so far. We’ll be alright.”