THE experience of losing an All-Ireland final two years ago could prove critical for Kilcoo this weekend, believes coach Richie Thornton.
With no provincial or All-Ireland series played last year, the Down champions are in their second straight decider where they will face Dublin heavyweights Kilmacud Crokes on Saturday evening.
It was the all-conquering Corofin who put paid to their hopes in 2020, surviving a late onslaught from the 14-man Ulster champions in normal time before blitzing clear in the extra 20 minutes.
They didn’t get out of Galway this time and around and from the beginning of the provincial series’, there was a sense that Kilcoo and Kilmacud might end up meeting in the All-Ireland final.
That the Dublin champions played both their Leinster semi-final and final at Headquarters gives them a familiarity with the venue that Thornton hopes 2020 will help offset.
“I know certainly having had the game in Croke Park two years ago will have been useful for the boys considering that Kilmacud have had a couple of run-outs in the stadium already this season, which would have been a big advantage for them.”
Kilmacud manager Robbie Brennan is almost certain to be without star forward Paul Mannion, who was still on crutches at the semi-final win over Padraig Pearses having undergone knee surgery at the beginning of January.
He had been struggling with an injury picked up during the Leinster semi-final and as arguably club football’s standout forward of recent seasons, is considered a colossal loss to the Crokes.
“I suppose you try and cover every eventuality you can and prepare for anything that might come your way on the day,” said Thornton when asked if they were preparing for the unlikely event that he would play.
“Whether Mannion plays or not, Kilmacud have shown they have a lot of quality in their attack, boys like [Dara] Mullin and [Tom] Fox and [Callum] Pearson have performed well, they’ll take a bit of watching in there.
“They’re obviously there on merit, you don’t get any easy games at this stage of the thing.
“Athletically they’re obviously at the top end of things in terms of club football, and they’ve shown over a number of years that they’re one of the strongest teams in the country.”
It’s been better news for Kilcoo, who have been able to free joint-captain Aidan Branagan following his late red card in the semi-final win over Padraig Pearses.
The experienced Branagan, who has been predominantly used off the bench during this run, is still expected to play a vital part at some stage on Saturday.
Thornton revealed he had been cited for a “strike to the head” as he barged into a St Finbarr’s player who appeared to be attempting to distract Paul Devlin from kicking what would have been a late winning free.
The fact that the issue was sorted in the middle of last week was an added bonus.
“As soon as it happened, we were straight into extra-time and there wasn’t really time to mention it, there was that much else happening.
“When we got word through, it had been reported as a strike to the head which it clearly wasn’t, so we went through the appeal and thankfully Aidan’s available for us and that was all settled last week.”
Branagan is one of the elder statesmen on the Magpies’ side but as much as they’ve played their part, so much of their success this year has been built on the performances of young guns like Miceal Rooney, Dylan Ward, Shealan Johnston and Ryan McEvoy.
“There’s a lot of boys with a lot of experience on that Kilcoo team and they’ve contributed so much, a lot of them have been around a long time,” said the former Tyrone player.
“But there’s definitely been a great impact made by some of the younger players as well this year that has helped drive the thing on.”
