Strong management team leading Athy

Conor Ronan is very happy to see Athy back in a final. There have been ups and downs along the way but after their best performance to date this year in the semi-final win over Sarsfields, they will approach Sunday’s final against Naas ith confidence.

“We’re very happy, naturally, to be in the final. Looking back at the Sarsfields game, we were very happy with large elements of the performance. Like any game of football, we are trying to iron out the creases and just try to get better and better because we know this game is going to be massive step up.

“We’ve enjoyed it so far, in fairness to the club they have painted the town red but that’s all for the families and the community, we’re focused on the football pitch and the footballs at the minute, and obviously Naas,” said Ronan.

Athy have had to wait since 2020 to get back to a final, a wait that is too long for a group of this talent.

“The group of lads themselves would admit that. Five years is far too long, especially considering the ability in the dressing room. Some people might see an asterix beside that 2020 final and call it the Covid final but we still count it as the Dermot Bourke Cup coming back to Athy. But look, it’s great to be back in it. I was involved it then, as was James Eaton, Rossie and Paddy weren’t but they were there in 2011. The gaps between titles have been far too long for liking but we’ll get ready for the final now and give it a right good go,” he said.

Ronan is joint manager of the team alongside Ross Bell and with James Eaton and Paddy Dunne also on the management, they have a group full of experience and know how and Ronan is pleased how their first year in charge has gone.

“When we applied for it back in December we had an idea of what the role would entail, and it probably entailed a lot more than we originally thought. In fairness, the four of us are very lucky, we have four great partners and wives and they’ve been a huge support. We all have young families so it has been busy balancing both sides of it but it has been enjoyable too. As the year has gone on, we’ve all found our roles and what we are doing and we know the times to let the other lads do what has to be done. It’s been a good year so far, we can’t complain. The league was a bit up and down, that was to be expected. We got a lot of minutes into a lot of lads, I think it was over 30 players used in the league so it’s been a good year so far,” said Ronan.

Previous experience working together has allowed Ronan and Bell to settle into their roles very nicely.

“We’ve been working jointly for three years, maybe four years, because we have been with second team in the club so we’ve been bouncing off each other. We have our roles, we made sure the lads knew that when we met up for our very first meeting last year. We said Ross is going to look after x, I’m going to look after y. Naturally then, there are things that overlap. James then looks after a lot of the coaching and Paddy helps him with that and he is there with his expertise in selecting, looking at the opposition and just his general football IQ, which is really good,” he said.

Ronan knows that Naas have been the standard bearers for Kildare football over the last four years and knew that to win a county, they would most likely have to beat Naas at some stage so it may as well be in a final.

“If you are going to win a county in Kildare, based on the last couple of years, you’re going to have to go through Naas at some stage or another. In fairness, the lads weren’t a million miles away. Some would say they should have bet them in normal time but that’s all in the past now. It’s going to be a really big test for our group, there’s no point in saying it’s not. Naas are proven winners, they know how to win, a lot of their players might go under the radar but they are very good footballers. We’ll have a massive job on our hands but please God we’ll get the bodies right and see how we go. It’s real test for the lads, and even us as a management team but hopefully we can pull through,” he said.