Mungret St Paul's manager Kevin O'Hagan relishing Munster Senior Football Championship semi-final

MUNGRET St Paul's will enter the Munster senior club football championship for the first time in their history when they take on Kerry Champions Dingle at the semi-final stage on Sunday November 23. Kevin O'Hagan's side won their first ever Limerick SFC at the weekend when Mungret St Paul's defeated Newcastle West 0-12 to 1-5 in the county final.

“We will probably try and get back on the horse on Thursday. I've a couple of videos of Dingle already, I will tell you that for a fact. We are looking forward to it but it's to the back of our minds at the moment,” added O'Hagan.

After winning the intermediate title in Limerick two years ago, the city club's rise has been impressive getting to a SFC semi-final in 2024 before getting over the line this year.

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In 2023, Mungret St Paul's reached the Munster Intermediate final when they came up short against Cill na Martra. The Mungret St Paul's manager went on to pay tribute to all those who contributed to this county final success.

“It didn't happen over night, same as with the players on the field that didn't happen over night. We put a lot of effort into this, the backroom team and also the people in the club. The club has given us everything we wanted, this is for them.”

O'Hagan has assembled an impressive backroom team with former Limerick footballer Pa Ranahan and Limerick goalkeeping coach Eoin O'Hagan playing key roles in the backroom team.Jason Hassett, Darragh O'Hagan, Jack McCarthy, Killian Ryan and Ronan McElligott have enjoyed a successful year between club and county.

“Every game in the championship we have improved, a couple of little tweaks here and there. In that first 15 minutes, we were bad under the break, and the players sorted it out themselves. That's the kind of group we have, for me you always believe. We've hit the training field, I don't know is it 80 or 90 times this year so far, you wouldn't be doing that unless you believe.”

O'Hagan felt his team took control of this contest against Newcastle West at the start of the last quarter.

“At the start of the last quarter, we just really pinned them in, I thought we looked fresher. I thought the legs we brought in really added to us. At that stage, I felt, ‘this is in the bag’.”