By Brendan McTaggart
Among the mayhem of the final whistle on Páirc Tailteann stood one of the Naomh Éanna heroes with his family. Ruairi Scott. Naomh Éanna’s Mr Dependable. On Sunday he weighed in with his sides second goal, a smart finish to yet another blistering move from the Glengormley side but his overall contribution was immense.
The 22 year old put in the type of performance that we may have become accustomed to this year and others, but he’s become an invaluable member of Frank Fitzsimons side. A pivot at the heart of the attack for Naomh Éanna and a calm head when the occasion requires. On Sunday, he realised a dream: “I was speaking with my family there and they were saying the next stops Croke Park. As a young boy, you dream of but being from Antrim you may not be able to achieve and to be able to do so with your own clubmen. It’s special.”
The thought of playing in Croke Park will keep the Glengormley men’s adrenaline pumping for the next few weeks but the Naomh Éanna forward said its been a long but worthwhile season so far: “This is our 14th month training. We started back in November and it’s been a long pull but to be in an All-Ireland final, it makes it all worth it. I just want to play it tomorrow. I’m itching to get going again. I can’t wait to play in it.”
It was a controlled and composed performance yet at times, devastating. Again, typical of Naomh Éanna’s championship run. Scott admitted he always felt they had control throughout the match: “I did always feel that. They had a wee patch at the start of the second half which any team does but the trait of our team is we come back. They had a few scores and we just know what to do in those situations. We started to run the ball a bit more and use our pace. It seemed to kill them.
“We went in at half time six points up but I think we were kind of annoyed. I wouldn’t say that’s our best performance at all, it wouldn’t be our best performance this season but it’s all about winning.
“We knew we were a better team and we said that if a few of us had a bad game, they were going to need 15 men on top of us for them to win and on the day, we couldn’t fault anyone. Everyone did their job.”
The three Naomh Éanna majors came within seven minutes of each other and while Scott’s major came in the middle, even he admitted it would be forgotten about with Maskey’s major the talking point afterwards: “I was looking the ball off him. He got the ball and I seen him look but what a finish. Unbelievable. I want him to do it again at training on Tuesday. It sums up his year, spectacular.
“He’s known as ‘Big Sleep’ but he has a brain on the pitch.”
It was another mightily impressive team performance and while there are players who will grab the headlines, Scott said those headlines wouldn’t be possible without the work ethic of the Naomh Éanna squad: “I don’t know if we’ve had the same starting 15 all year. That’s a testament to everyone within the squad. There’s obviously individual lads who get the limelight but if we didn’t perform as a team then they just couldn’t do it. It is a team effort.
“Growing up, we’ve always been a team. We’ve had those four or five really good players who get to the county team but honest to God, 15 players could be county players, we honestly believe that.”
The Naomh Éanna dream and fairytale run continues and in three week’s time they have the chance to write yet more history for both themselves and Antrim. Croke Park and Kerry side Kilcummin lay in wait and Scott told us they aren’t finished yet: “We’re in an All-Ireland final now but you don’t want to be remembered as a loser. We’re all a very ambitious bunch but we know Kilcummin are a very good side. They will be favourites but to be honest, I’m confident in our boys.”
