St Joseph’s supply chain takes some beating
Knockmore goalkeeper Colm Reape was a member of the St Joseph's, Foxford team who won an All-Ireland Post Primary senior 'D' title in 2012. Picture: John Corless
The days and weeks in the lead-up to a county final provide a sense of excitement and nervousness like no other. Towns, villages, neighbourhoods and clubs unite and the collective interest of the area revolves around the impending game and the quest for victory. And so too in the local schools, as students dream about future glories, and staff reminisce of glory days gone-by.
St Joseph's Secondary School, Foxford is in a most unique position in the lead-up to the next two weeks of football. They can justifiably claim to have a huge vested interest in all three men's county competitions yet to be decided – senior, intermediate and junior.
When the men of Knockmore line out against their neighbours Ballina Stephenites in the senior decider, the majority of the starting team will have attended St Joseph's during their school days. The following weekend, when their East Mayo neighbours from across the bridge, Moy Davitts, contest the intermediate final against Crossmolina Deel Rovers, the same will be true – most of their starting team will also have attended St Joseph’s.
Both of those club teams, Knockmore and Moy Davitts, are made up of young men, many of whom walked the corridors of St Joseph's during their schooldays, and who represented their school on many memorable occasions with great distinction. In 2012, and again in 2020, St Joseph's were victorious on the national stage, winning All-Ireland Colleges titles on both occasions. Knockmore and Moy Davitts clubmen united and while wearing the school jersey, achieved fantastic success. Young men like Darren McHale, David McHale, Colm Reape (all Knockmore), Brian Heneghan, Alan Bourke, Padraig Ruane, Anthony Jordan and Oisin McHugh (all Moy Davitts) all tasted All-Ireland success in 2012.
More recently, Sean Holmes, Caolan Hopkins, Liam Durcan, Conor Flynn, Connell Dempsey, Adam Battle, Adam Naughton, Charlie Bourke, Ryan McDonnell, Brian McMahon (all Knockmore), Conor Reid, Cian McHale, Ryan Kenny and Colm Reape (all Moy Davitts) were all part of the victorious 2020 All-Ireland winning team.
Other great Knockmore and Moy Davitts clubmen like Aiden Orme, Nathan Armstrong, Kieran King, Darragh Staunton, Peter Naughton, Oisin Quinn, Neil Murphy, Fiachra Cruise, Brian Reape, John Gilmore and others also wore the school colours on many occasions, and represented St Joseph's on the playing fields with great aplomb.
To add a further unique school dimension to the upcoming county finals, in the county junior decider where Cill Chomáin face off against Bonniconlon for the Pete McDonnell Cup, the Cill Chomáin management ticket is made up of Sean McLoughlin and Nigel Reape – both former students of St Joseph’s and both still heavily involved in school life. Sean McLoughlin works as the school caretaker and Nigel Reape has provided school and office supplies to the school for many years. McLoughlin is also heavily invested in GAA sporting activities in the school and would have encountered all of the previously-mentioned players in a coaching capacity, as has former Kiltane and Mayo player Sean Carey who is another of the school’s esteemed GAA coaches.
McLoughlin and Reape have helped mastermind Cill Chomáin’s journey to this year's final, and there is certainly an amount of goodwill and best wishes from the school community which will follow the Black and White on the big day. And yet St Joseph’s can also lay claim to having an interest in the fortunes of Bonniconlon on the day too, as among their playing contingent is another former pupil in Ronan Conlon.
When you factor in the recent Mayo LGFA Senior Championship final and the latest appearance of Knockmore, so many of those players have also walked the corridors of the Foxford secondary school and featured heavily for its teams, achieving great success on many occasions. These young women too have gone on to represent their club with great distinction.
The coming weeks will see excitement build in all clubs, parishes and schools involved in county finals – and none so than in St Joseph's Secondary School, Foxford. With Moclair, Sweeney and McDonnell cups on the line, the interest and excitement amongst the school community is palpable.
To paraphrase the great commentator George Hamilton, ‘A school holds its breath!’
