By Damien Maher
During his 21 years at St Joseph’s Secondary School, Luke Dempsey must have thought he’d seen it all, but last Friday’s historic victory in the Br Bosco Cup final at Bord na Móna O’Connor Park, Tullamore represents a new milestone.
His talented St Joseph’s side, playing against the defending champions Naas CBS, who were chasing a hat-trick of Leinster titles, produced an awesome performance to deservedly win the title for the first time in the school’s history. Dempsey, who witnessed his side battle against the traditionally bigger sides like St Pat’s, Navan and Naas CBS in what proved a memorable campaign, was thrilled with Friday’s maiden victory and the manner of the St Joseph’s performance.
The Rochfortbridge side defied the odds to finally get their hands on the much coveted prize.
“I thought our second half performance was outstanding given the circumstances,” beamed a clearly delighted Dempsey afterwards. St Joseph’s, who made a superb start with a stunning Devin Hill goal after 49 seconds, led by 1-5 to 0-6 at half-time and twice regained the lead in a frenetic second half, during which they played against a strong breeze, with Brandon Kelly’s 52nd minute penalty proving crucial.
“The standard was really excellent and there were some brilliant scores against that wind. We actually knew that our strength all year was carrying the ball through the hands and linking up with very talented forwards and attacking wing backs,” noted Dempsey.
“Ciaran Daly (fifth year, who played at wing back) is one of the younger players, but I thought he was excellent. Rory Keyes, a hurler and a player who we were wondering about in terms of fitness levels – I thought he was outstanding today in not wasting the ball. Several times we just swapped midfield to give lads breaks. That game was frantic, it was really, really tiring on them,” he observed.
KNUCKLED DOWN
Dempsey, who led Westmeath to All-Ireland minor and under 21 titles in 1995 and ’99, was overjoyed with his latest success and kept faith in the team he started for much of Friday’s final.
“We only made a couple of subs which were enforced on us,” he remarked, noting how well his side responded when Naas twice hit the front in the second half (they led by 0-11 to 1-7 after 38 minutes and by 1-13 to 1-9 in the 45th minute).
“That particular period – you could call them quarters now with water breaks – the third quarter was where we won that match. We really knuckled down, stemmed the tide and got back on top and went into the final quarter a point or two ahead. That was a turning point,” he observed.
Dempsey paid tribute to his side’s tremendous spirit and collective will to win which had previously brought them through big games against the likes of Louth Schools and St Pat’s, Navan.
“Right throughout this campaign, when we were put to the pin of our collar, you could see that outrageous camaraderie and willingness to win the 50/50 ball. That came good today; we had plenty of chances squandered and a bit of good fortune, but that’s a final. I know from being in so many finals that, on the day, you are going to need an element of luck. You are going to need the bounce of the ball,” he noted.
“Overall, we played the better football, to be honest, moving the ball through the hands. They couldn’t contain us at times. They were depending on the strong runners through the middle and McDermott and Quinn from five and seven. But we knew about them and we tackled very, very well,” he added.
Friday’s success is another major credit on Dempsey’s glittering managerial C.V. which not only includes those All-Ireland victories, but National Football League successes with Westmeath at senior level. He was in charge when the county embarked on that memorable run to the All-Ireland quarter-final in 2001 and later went on to manage Longford and Carlow. He subsequently led Moorefield of Kildare to senior glory before guiding St Loman’s, Mullingar to a hat-trick of senior titles.
