At the age of just 21 years old, Cathair McGeary held aloft the Sean Quinn Cup on Sunday evening after his Collegeland side had captured their 4th ever Junior Championship title, following a hard fought win over Derrynoose. He led the O’Rahilly’s men with a confident stride during the opening parade and carried his coolness into battle to help secure victory for his side.
Predicted as underdogs before the throw in, Collegeland held the upper hand for most of the contest and McGeary was at the forefront of all that was good in their play. His work rate, driving runs and overall performance saw him rewarded with the man of the match award. His heroic fetch in the centre of the park during the closing stages of the contest was one that certainly caught the eye along with many other kick out collections across the 60 minutes.
McGeary was modest in his acceptance of the man of the match trophy and credited his team mates for their efforts, “It came as a bit of a surprise, I’d say there were five or six players on our team could have got man of the match easily, so it was an overall team performance but I’m honoured to get it”.
The Captain referred to the youth in the Collegeland side during his acceptance speech and McGeary was one of several youngsters that flourish in the blue and white of Collegeland, not only in Sunday’s showpiece but throughout the entire season. Jason Kelly’s first half goal was key to their victory while Shane Donnelly and Tyrone McGeary also enhanced their growing reputations with good performances.
The man of the match believes there is no end to the talent within the club “There’s absolutely no limit for this team, the team is always getting younger and younger and that’s great to see. There’s players coming up through the ranks and us winning the championship today will bring more younger players on through the underage so there’s no limit for this team at all”.
The big midfielder, who has came through the development squads within the Orchard County and is currently on Kieran McGeeney’s senior panel, was left speechless after the final whistle, “To be honest I don’t really know (what to say), it went over very quickly but it’s an unbelievable achievement for the club. We’ve been knocking on the door a number of years so it’s just great for the club”.
Next for Collegeland will be the preliminary round of the Ulster Championship where they have been paired against Antrim Champions St Patrick’s Lisburn, with the game taking place on the 13th of October, but the Armagh Champs won’t worry about that game just yet, “I suppose we’ll regroup in a couple of days time but we’ll enjoy the moment here now and tonight and then see after that”.
