For a third successive year, it’s a St Paul’s Tournament final for Four Masters. Three is the magic number.
For almost everyone, management included, it’s back-to-back finals. A select few are experiencing this for a third time. They’ll remember the pain Dungiven inflicted upon them in 2023 as well as they remember the glory of a 2024 win over Cavan Gaels.
So how are the nerves according to joint manager Greg Doherty?
“We’re okay. We had a bit of a get together (on Sunday). We’re not too fazed, this group are used to big games.
“We’re heading into our third match and in fairness I think there’d be more nerves for the first match.
“There’s no denying the experience of last year’s final is a big help, and there was arguably more pressure last year given the fact we had lost the year before and we didn’t want to lose another one.”
It’s notable that managers from Four Masters and Magherafelt alike have talked up the importance of the midfield battle. There’s nothing minor about it.
For the Donegal kingpins, the duty will fall to Tiarnan McBride and Theo Colhoun, with the latter putting the seal on a semi-final win over Fr Rocks with the only goal of the game.
Doherty and his compatriot Odie McBride were satisfied if not ecstatic with that performance, though they admit to their own high standards as a management group:
“We thought we controlled the game more than the Scotstown game (quarter-final). We were happy with lots of aspects, not so happy with others but as a management we’re hard to please”, Doherty says.
“But semi-finals are there for winning, and we didn’t mind if we won by a point.
“Theo is a super fella. He’s been one of our most consistent performers all year. From midfield to the half-forward line he does Trojan work, as does Tiarnan around him.
“I used to play midfield myself so I know how hot and heavy it can get by times, but the two lads never stop.
“Ten minutes before the goal, Theo was actually in around the goal mouth following a ball in and was unlucky to get blown for square ball.
“That middle third will have a huge bearing on the winning of the match on Wednesday.”
Three finals in a row is an incredible achievement, but Doherty insists it isn’t something that they are dwelling on just yet.
By New Year’s Day, Four Masters may not be keeping things just as “low-key” should things play out in their favour.
“I think people might get time to reflect on that after. It’s a busy time of year for people, but also there’s not much going on around the club.
“It’s the same with clubs across the country, you’re not really meeting that many people, but there’s definitely a good vibe about the town, a nice few posters up and things like that, but we’re keeping it as low-key as we can.”
Four Masters preliminary round win over the O’Donovan Rossa club last year could hardly have been tighter.
A penalty call was perceived as dubious in some circles, but in any case the Donegal side forced their way back into a game that had looked beyond them.
With the St Paul’s tournament changing from U17 to U18 this year, there will be many of those faces from last year exchanging blows once again.
So is the revenge factor something that concerns Doherty?
“It doesn’t concern us. We’re not bothered one way or the other. We know it hasn’t been their sole focus to get back at us.
“We’re delighted it’s Magherafelt in the final. We know it’s going to be a fantastic game.
“They may feel they were robbed with a penalty decision last year but we feel we had a storming final 10 minutes.
“12 months on it’s the same teams, but they’re not the same players. So many on both sides are bigger, stronger, fitter, faster.
“We don’t expect the game from last year to have much of a bearing, whoever puts in the bigger performance on the day will get over the line.
“May the best team win.”