Malynn expecting a closely contested final

Clarke's Bar Westmeath Junior 1 Football Championship final preview

St Joseph’s manager Paddy Malynn says his side’s season has been about steady progress, focus and learning from last year’s disappointment as they prepare for another crack at Junior 1 championship glory. They are aiming to go one better than last year's defeat against Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall in the decider.

“I suppose we would have been very disappointed how we probably performed in the final last year. It was 20 years since they had got to the last junior final and I suppose we put a huge focus on preparation and getting to the final. Unfortunately, the performance on the day just didn’t happen. So, I suppose that’s kind of been in our minds for the last nearly 12 months at this stage now. Preparations have gone well. We’ve been building kind of slowly during the year,” he remarked.

Malynn, who was a coach alongside fellow Rosemount man Eoin Carberry last year, feel St Joseph's had to dig deep through a difficult series of matches to reach this year’s decider.

“We’ve got through some tough games; they’ve been tight, difficult matches. We had Bunbrosna in the last group game and that was a typical game with Bun. It was right up to the final whistle and then similar with The Downs in the quarter-final and then Mullingar Shamrocks in the semi-final. So look, we were delighted to get through those games and look, we’re really just looking forward now to the final and hoping to go one better this time,” said Malynn.

That run, he says, has given St Joseph’s both belief and momentum. “The last three games, they were difficult games, so we’ve got momentum from all of them. Historically, maybe we would have at times struggled with the likes of Bunbrosna or struggled with the likes of a second-string senior team just with the level that they’re training and that sort of stuff. But this definitely has given us a nice bit of momentum and just a great bit of belief as well that we’re coming through really, really tight games,” he observed.

“Look, the performance isn’t always where it wants to be or needs to be, but again, if we get through the final and win, the performance will be irrelevant. You just prepare as best you can and then just do what you have to do to win on the day. And that’s what we did the last three games. So look, we’ve been very happy with that.”

Malynn has been encouraged by how his young side has matured since last year’s campaign. “That’s what we’ve tried to work on the last 12 months in particular, just to develop that little bit of maturity. To give the lads a little bit more leadership within the group, little things like that. They won the U20 championship last year (Division 3). We probably had the guts of eight starters on that from last year’s team and then another maybe two or three coming off the bench,” he noted.

“They’ve all pushed on, they’ve all worked very, very hard during the year. We were playing in Division 3 of the league this year, which is a great standard. We’re just delighted with that. We’ve just been working on developing that little bit of leadership and maturing a small bit as a group over the last 12 months as well. Going back to the last three games, that has played a massive part in just getting over the line.

"From a manager’s point of view, there’s really nothing you can do. It’ll be the same the next day. In the last ten minutes, myself and Michael (Ennis, Ballinagore manager), there’s nothing really, we can do or say to change it, maybe tactically, but it’s really just up to the players on the field to take advantage of the opportunities in front of them. Just whoever maintains their composure and does the simple things right will ultimately win the game.”

Looking ahead to the final with Ballinagore (Sunday, 2pm, TEG Cusack Park), Malynn expects another tevenly matched contest after their close encounter earlier in the campaign. He's aware of the major threat posed by Tommy McDaniel, who got some crucial scores to steer Ballinagore to victory when the sides met in the group stages.

“That has been the story of the championship,” he said of McDaniel's display. “I think it was 12 points to 1-8. It was cagey. It opened up, I’d say, for maybe the first ten minutes of the second half and maybe the last ten minutes. But look, we’re probably very, very similar. Two good defences, good physically strong around the middle and both have good forwards as well on both teams and pace to burn. That’s the one thing that stands out for me with both teams. There’s huge pace and that’s going to make for a really, really good final.

“It was cagey the last day. It was a one-point game. We got caught with not retreating the four metres from a free and that ultimately gave them just a win. So little things like that will come into it again in the final. But it was nip and tuck. It probably could have gone either way in the group stages, but it’s really going to be the exact same the next day. I don’t see either team running away with it.

“I referenced there that the last ten minutes is just going to be huge for both teams. Ballinagore were in the Junior 2 final last year and we were in the Junior 1. So, both teams have experienced that county final day in the last 12 months. Both have that under their belt to use. It’s really just going to come down to the fine margins and who maybe handles the pressure the best,” he added.