Mungret St Paul's senior football manager Kevin O'Hagan hoping his side can take their opportunity

MUNGRET ST PAUL'S manager Kevin O'Hagan said there is huge excitement building around the community ahead of this weekend's Limerick senior football championship final against Newcastle West.This is Mungret St Paul's second time appearing in a SFC final with their last appearance coming in 2001.

“There's huge excitement, we don't know what the week is going to hold for us because we are not used of it. It's definitely a place that we are delighted to be,” Kevin O'Hagan told Leader Sport.

Mungret St Paul's progress has been very impressive over the last three years. The city side won the intermediate football championship in 2023, came up just short against Fr Casey's in the SFC semi-final last year and now find themselves in a senior county final this year.

“Football has always been very strong in Mungret, if you look at the groups that are there. If you take the age group of 21 and 22-year-olds that are nucleus of our squad, they've had a very successful juvenile campaign all the way through at their own age. They also played Division 3 for the year above their age, they had a lot of losses and they learned a lot from it. I think that's what bred the current crop that we have now.”

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O'Hagan feels the Munster Intermediate final defeat to Cill na Martra and last year's defeat to Fr Casey's were huge learnings for his team.

“We got beaten by Cill na Martra in the Munster final and beaten by Fr Casey's last year, those games though they were losses, they were huge learning points but we did feel after both of those games that there was little bit more in us and we deserved a little bit more.”

Kevin O'Hagan side's were defeated by Newcastle West in round one of this year's SFC. Since then, the 2023 intermediate champions recorded victories over Galtee Gaels, Kildimo-Pallaskenry, St Kieran's and Ballylanders in their final four games. Mungret St Paul's edged past Monaleen in the SFC quarter-final and last weekend O'Hagan's charges knocked out reigning county champions Adare at the semi-final stage.

“It's massive, Adare and Newcastle West are the gold standard for a number of years in Limerick. Adare were the champions and to take out the champions and beat them is huge for the club. And for the younger players to see their senior team in a county final is huge.”

O'Hagan believes the time is now for this current crop of Mungret St Paul's players to create history.

“Just because we are a young team, fellas get into their heads that if we don't win this year, there's next year. There's no next year for us, just Sunday and that's it, you can't be thinking about next year. I fully believe we will be back again, there is no guarantees in sport.”

The Mungret St Paul's manager is expecting a big challenge from Newcastle West.

“They've loads of experience, this week will be easy for them, they've had these weeks before. Experience is their super power and how we are going to beat that is the question we have for ourselves.

“I look at some of the older fellas who would have been involved in 2001 and to see the enjoyment they are getting from us, that is probably even sweeter.”