PREVIEW: Another Tipperary school vying for All-Ireland glory will take the field on Friday

St Joseph's College Borrisoleigh will continue their remarkable journey this Friday afternoon as they prepare for a first ever All-Ireland Senior Colleges C final, when they make the short journey to Borrisokane to face Offaly school Colaiste Naomh Cormac.

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The Munster final and All-Ireland semi-final are still fresh in the memory, and they are games that will stand to the Tipperary school firmly, with injuries to key personnel requiring a big balancing act from management, who have made full use of their panel.

Willie Ryan has been on the sideline for the whole journey to this point, and he is deriving all of his pleasure and enjoyment from the recognition the players are receiving for their efforts in recent weeks.

The former Tipperary captain, along with his colleague and fellow management member Michael Halpin, has seen many brilliant players pass through the school without the success and acclaim of neighbouring schools, and this will be new territory for all involved.

“It’s lovely for the boys to be getting recognition for their effort,” said Ryan.

“Since the end of August, September, they’ve put in a great effort. Myself and Mike (Halpin), both of us have had an enjoyable year.

“Mike is in the school 25 years this year, and it’s the first All-Ireland he’s been involved in. It’s a lovely feeling and everyone is enjoying the build up to it.”

Borris-Ileigh clubman Cathal Kennedy has been nursing an injury for much of the latter stages of the competition, but he limped through the Munster final, before coming on as a second half sub in the semi-final win over Ballinasloe, where he made a decisive impact by scoring five points from play.

He is expected to be fully fit for the game on Friday, and Ryan explained what his inclusion will mean for the team going into the decider.

“He’s a very skilful hurler,” Ryan explained.

“For the semi-final he was very close to being right, but we were fearful that if we started him and we did win the semi-final, he might miss out on the final.

“So we held him in reserve and when he came in, we needed him. We were under a bit of pressure. We were finding it hard to win the breaking ball around the middle third, and anything he touched seemed to go over the bar.

“He gives the group massive energy and they all trust that when they give him the ball, he’s going to do the right thing with it,” he added.

Offaly opposition stand in the way of a historic All-Ireland win for the Tipp school, and they will pose plenty of danger with talent evident across the team.

Fed mainly from the Faithful underage juggernaut that is Kilcormac Killoughey, no less than 14 of the starting team have played for Offaly’s county minor teams in recent years.

Son of former Roscrea hurler and Kilcormac Killoughey manager Trevor Fletcher, Odhran is a big threat, along with Aaron Screeney, the younger brother of mercurial forward Adam.

“They are a very formidable side,” Ryan admitted.

“They move the ball very fast, and while we’ve looked at them and seen their style of play, we’ve spoken to the boys. We have to just focus on ourselves from now on.”

This possible success, though, will be welcomed for the school.

Sandwiched between some of the most successful schools in Tipperary in terms of colleges hurling, this win could ignite more future success and entice more players from the catchment to ply their trade in St Joseph’s, a point that the manager acknowledged ahead of this massive tie.

“Our lads are getting a small bit of recognition for what they’re doing, as I said.

“We have plenty of lads here like Shane Ryan and Daniel Groome who are on the Tipp minor panel, and there’s plenty more lads there that will wear the blue and gold,” he added finally.

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