St Comgall’s captain Paddy O’Connor talks to the Saffron Gael about his team’s progress under new manager Barry Burns

Antrim Junior Football Championship Final

St Comagall’s v St Agnes at Hightown – Throw-in @ 1-30 pm

Enjoyment and buy-in. Along with Barry Burns coming in as manager, they are prominent ingredient in making the 2024 St Comgall’s story a different one.

That’s how captain Paddy O’Connor, a member of their 2021 winning team, sees things at the latter end of a season building up to Saturday’s Antrim Junior final against St Agnes’.

Burns, from St Paul’s in Belfast, lit a fire. It was a clean slate after years of losing games at intermediate level. After winning all of their league and championship games, there is another piece of silverware up for grabs this weekend.

“We can’t complain,” O’Connor said of the progress. “I think with Barry coming in, he just brought more boys along and it just made it enjoyable.”

Since 2021, managers came and went. It was a downward trajectory. Burns is the right man at the right time.

“There was just a bit of fresh air coming in and he’s brought everyone back. I think some people maybe just left because we won one,” O’Connor feels.

There was an exodus heading to the four corners of the world. The commitment wasn’t the same. Defeats at intermediate level were disheartening.

Now, back in junior, it’s a fresh start.

“We started really well and it’s just built from there,” said O’Connor as his mind casts towards Saturday.

It’s all about winning now. They’ve tasted it before when a penalty shoot-out against Rashaskin saw them lift the cup.

Now, with the league done and dusted, it’s all about Saturday. And they know what’s at stake.

“The nerves have probably come closer to the time,” O’Donnell offers. “I think the main thing you just have to be is confident. You’ve trained all year for it…this is it, it’s do or die.”

Winning their early games didn’t fully tell the story of where St Comgall’s were headed. It was wins over the bigger guns, Pearses and O’Donnell’s that took them from their comfort zone.

“You’re just thinking, we do have a good enough squad here, and we’re just getting better, it seems,” O’Connor continues.

“Gradually, throughout the year, we started doing more things that we were being taught at training. It was working, so we were buying into it and doing more. And then it just kind of snowballed from there.”

Away from the football is a bond that helps pull all the pieces together. Located in Antrim town, St Comgall’s face the challenges many country clubs don’t.

The fact their players have played, ate and drank together helps. A friendship forged outside of the football bubble.

“Turning up to training whenever I was younger…you would have turned up, got on with it, done your training and went home,” O’Connor recalls.

“Whereas now, boys are meeting up outside of trainings. We’re going for coffees after trainings or going out for pints at the weekends.

“We’re involved in things together, celebrating together the wins or losses. That wee bit of more of like a community…I think brings everyone on as well.

“Then, when someone new joins the panel, it’s easy to bring them in because we’re all going together to do something and everyone’s involved.”

It helps any newcomers moving into the area for work. There is a club with a welcoming hand. It’s the same for the players moving up from the youth ranks.

“It’s the taboo of the young ones coming up,” he explains. “They don’t really want to train with the seniors because they’re scared of getting hurt.

“But, once you find them, everyone just has a bit of crack anyway so it’s easier just to fit them in.”

When next season rolls around, there will be new faces and new targets. There will be Division Two football to embrace.

Now, it’s all about Saturday and getting Paddy O’Connor’s hands on the cup. It’s do or die. It’s the same for the Aggies.

Rise and shine, it’s championship time.