‘We can’t let Loman’s build up a head of steam’
Garrycastle star James Dolan believes St Loman’s Mullingar are a better team than any of the semi-finalists in this year’s Dublin SFC.
Such a viewpoint reflects the scale of the challenge facing Garrycastle against the defending champions in tomorrow’s Westmeath SFC decider (TEG Cusack Park, Sunday, 2.30pm).
Remarkably, St Loman’s are contesting their seventh final in a row. It’s the first time such a feat was achieved since Athlone contested eight successive finals from 1953 to 1960, famously winning six in a row from ‘55 to ‘60.
“It’s fantastic to be training in November and looking forward to a county final. It didn’t look like that way earlier in the year. We weren’t playing too well. We scraped our way through the group and we kind of hit form at the right time,” Dolan said.
In the 2019 final, Garrycastle produced a dramatic comeback to memorably overcome a Loman’s side which seemed to be cruising to Flanagan Cup success. Dolan doesn’t need any reminding that Garrycastle can’t afford to let the Mullingar men get so far ahead again. “We certainly don’t want to let this Loman’s team build up a head of steam,” said Dolan, who is joint captain along with Mark McCallon.
“With the quality of players they have, the boys I play with for the county and others, they can do that to teams. We’ll be doing everything in our power to try to stop that and to play our own bit of football as well.”
From playing with Westmeath, Dolan knows many of the St Loman’s players very well. The attacking threat of John Heslin and Ronan O’Toole is glaringly obvious, but Dolan reels off many other names too.
“It’s their seventh final in a row which really shows the quality of players that club has brought through,” he said.
Dolan said goalkeeper Jason Daly was “fantastic for Westmeath this year” while he hailed Sam McCartan as an “unbelievable” addition to the county panel. “I’m really impressed with Sam. He stuck his head down and trained hard,” said Dolan, also describing Fola Ayorinde as a player with “bags of talent”.
“I’ve been very impressed with Jack Geoghegan in the last couple of games. I’m sure Jack (Cooney) will be on to him too,” said James, also mentioning “older statesmen” like Paddy Dowdall, Peter Foy and Ken Casey.
“I was looking (on television) at the Dublin semi-finals and I think Loman’s are better than those teams, with better forwards and a better structure to them,” he said.
“Two years ago, we were up against it too, but we won’t fear them either and we’ll try to do our best.”
While James insisted that the 2019 country final and this year’s group clash (won by St Loman’s) will have “no bearing” on Sunday’s game, he added that “you can learn from different things” in previous meetings.
“We started well against them in the group stages and then they came at us like a train. They really put us to the sword in the first half. We kind of plugged away and tried to reduce the deficit and we just ran out of time,” he recalled.
Twenty years ago, Garrycastle won their first senior title and, ten years ago, they completed a three-in-a-row before going on to add the Leinster crown. Such milestones are “for the fans to talk about” said Dolan, adding that “we’ll enjoy that stuff afterwards if the result goes our way”.
“It’s a great little club to be part of. The kids are here putting up the bunting and it (being in the county final) brings a feel-good factor around the community.”
Dolan had an attacking role in Garrycastle’s quarter-final and semi-final wins over Mullingar Shamrocks and The Downs respectively. But he has no real preference for being selected in defence or attack.
“I get those questions the whole time,” he responded. “I’ve played in nearly every position for Garrycastle – from the full back line, into midfield and I had a stint in the full forward line with Dessie (Dolan) and Paddy Mul’ (Mulvihill).
“I just play where I’m put to be honest. The boys don’t really tell me a whole pile, they just say you’re playing here, and this is what we want you to do.
“I started the group game against Athlone at wing-back and I didn’t have a great game. Then I was moved into midfield for the next two games and I didn’t play great either. I’d say they were moving me to get a bit of joy out of me!
“It has been enjoyable. It worked out for those two games (against Shamrocks and The Downs); I don’t know if it will be the same the next day. Every game takes on its own life.
“A change is as good as a break. It’s a different type of role – around the middle, you’re doing a lot of donkey work, a lot of chasing and harrying. I suppose your key metrics are turnovers and how many tackles you can get in. In the forward line, it’s about assists and scores, winning frees and getting marks. But I’ll play wherever Gary (Dolan) and John (Keane) put me; that’s the end of it.”
Dolan’s first county final was actually against St Loman’s (2009) and he recalls playing at wing-forward that day, from where he scored a goal.
Looking back further, Doron Harte was on Garrycastle’s 2001 team and is still going strong.
“Doron is a stalwart of this club,” said James. “Twenty years ago, he won his first and now he’s going for his ninth. “The club has eight and he has them all. That shows the calibre of footballer Doron is. We love him here, he brings leadership and that bite to training. He’s a calming influence, just like Gaff’ (John Gaffey). They’re great lads to have on the panel and they’ll be doing the talking this week.”
A day before the final, Garrycastle player Anthony Larkin is getting married to Shauna Brophy. Garrycastle colleague Conor Cosgrove is one of the groomsmen and James is among the invited guests.
“I’ll be home early, I’m used to minding myself!” said James with a smile.
“Life goes on. GAA is only a hobby, we do it because we love it. When Anthony and Shauna booked their wedding, I don’t think they would have been looking that far ahead and we wouldn’t have been either. We’ll have Anthony on the panel the next day and hopefully we can add something and give them a bit of a cheer,” he added.