Longford IFC Final: Leitrim native Fintan McBrien bidding to guide Fr Manning Gaels to glory

The Aughavas clubman, who still sometimes plays for his club, accepts that a fortuitous goal in the closing moments of the semi-final against Kenagh got his side through.

“With five minutes remaining in the game, it didn’t look good for us. However, we showed great character and the goal (from David Collum) got us through,” he told The Leader.

He describes the semi-final as an “excellent game.”

“There was great scoring (it finished 2-14 to 1-14) and both ourselves and Kenagh set out to play,” he commented.

Looking ahead to the final, he wants his side to focus on their own game and not get caught up with the opposition’s system.

In Ballymahon’s case, this could be defensive, as they negated the threat of Sean Connolly’s two county players, the Reynolds brothers, in the first half by packing the defence.

The prospect of facing such a set up does not faze McBrien. “We have faced that sort of defensive set up before. Ballymahon were always likely to use that set up to try to curtail the Reynolds brothers,” he commented.

If the Gaels do get scoring chances, McBrien wants to see more efficiency. “We kicked 15 wides against Kenagh. We can’t afford to repeat that against Ballymahon. But at least we were creating scoring opportunities throughout the game,” he stated.

His side has a number of vastly experienced players (Pauric Gill, Cian Brady, Paddy Collum) and another of them, 39-year-old David Collum was to the fore in the semi-final.

The big midfielder scored two goals and the second one was his side’s passport to the county final.

“David has been playing well all year for us and his midfield partner Liam Lynch has been in good form also. For the second goal, Conor Keenan was fouled, but the referee allowed an advantage and David took his chance well,” McBrien commented.

With both sides having big midfielders, McBrien is expecting a lot of breaking ball in the centre.

“I wouldn’t see there being a lot of clean catches. The breaking ball will be important,” he said.

Ballymahon’s attack is a classic mix of youth and experience, 44-year-old Trevor Smullen alongside 18-year-old Jack Walsh).

“Their forwards are lively. They have pace in their attack and Trevor Smullen is still playing well,” he commented.

As an excellent forward himself, will Fintan be imparting his knowledge to his attack?

“When the players cross the white line, they have to make the decisions,” he simply states.