There will be neutrals cheering on Athy in this Leinster final if only because they are curious about what captain David Hyland may say from the Hogan Stand Steps.
About 55 kilometres down the road in Newbridge in October, he gave his version of the Golden Cleric speech and aimed words at those who had dismissed their ability to upset Naas when they were priced at 4/1. “There’s an old saying, they wrote us off but guess what, we didn’t write back,” he declared.
Three further wins in Leinster where their smallest winning margin has been eight points and Athy find themselves being rejected again as 16/5 outsiders.
It’s All-Ireland champions of nine years ago, Ballyboden St Enda’s, who are expected to set up a New Year’s weekend semi-final date with Dingle or St Finbarr’s.
Athy co-manager Ross Bell knows there’s only so much noise he can block from his players. “We are a close group, there are six or seven sets of brothers there. There’s a lot of family connections in there.
“There’s maybe four people who played in the 2011 county final, maybe only four people off that team that aren’t involved in some way this weekend. We do try to keep most things in house, but it’s hard not to hear some of these things.
“But sometimes that can be music to your ears: ‘You’re a small club going up to Dublin to face a big team like Ballyboden’. It might be something that the players lean into, but we wouldn’t be building team talks around it.
“I don’t think anybody needs any extra motivation, and they certainly haven’t since we’ve got to the semi-final, final of Kildare and throughout Leinster.”
The seven-day turnaround makes a change from the two-week gaps they have had up to this point but neither Athy nor Ballyboden weren’t overly taxed last weekend.
Athy also had a walkaround in Croke Park a few days ago and while the quick return to action might pose more of a challenge for their veterans – Cathal McCarron (38), Kevin Feely (33), Hyland (31) and Niall Kelly (31) – Bell has no concerns about the three inter-county men and former Tyrone defender McCarron.
“The four of them are almost professional athletes in the way they look after their bodies. I don’t think I’ve seen a group do prehab, rehab to get their bodies right. They’re really in tune with what their body needs and stuff like that.
“Four of them really know when to push it and when to take the foot off. I suppose they’ve lived it for years now and they completely understand what works for them and what doesn’t work for the four of them injury-wise or anything like that. They’re always ready to go for whatever session we’re doing. It’s almost as if there’s a new lease of life in them in many ways.”
Bell mentions the new rules as another source of inspiration for the players. Hyland has scored six two-pointers since the county semi-final win over Sarsfields (the team have posted nine in those five games). The expansiveness that it and other changes to the game encourage have suited Athy.
“In Kildare, we would have always been renowned as a footballing team and had the talent to go and do that,” Bell says. “Maybe there was a bit of frustration in the last number of years when it got so defensive and stuff and 14 men behind the ball. It was difficult for us to go and play that traditional style that we were accustomed to probably from 2009, 2010 onwards.”
Bell speaks glowingly about the aforementioned quartet. McCarron’s recovery from gambling addiction took place in the Cuan Mhuire facility just outside the town and he has since made his life there. “He married into a strong Athy footballing family (the Delahunts) when he moved down here. His kids are involved with Athy, he’s very much Athy through and through.
“Seeing his reaction after winning the county semi-final and final there, it showed how much it meant for somebody who did it at the elite top level with Tyrone for so long.”
Kelly’s 10 points against Portarlington last weekend brought his Leinster total to 17 points. In him and towering midfielder Feely, Bell and co-manager Conor Ronan know they have leaders.
“The boys set the tone and standards. When we won the county in 2011, Niall missed Leinster because he broke his arm in an U21 game after the county final. I think he’s really come to life in these Leinster games. He’s probably having his best year in an Athy jersey.
“Kevin’s life is basically football. He could make an easier life for himself. He could set up a physiotherapy practice in Athy, but maybe football becomes a little too consuming for him then if that were the case and Dublin is a kind of escape. He always shows up. The boys always do.”
