No Croker or speeches for Minor final

ARMAGH last won the Minor All-Ireland in 2009, players such as Rory Grugan, Andrew Murnin and James Morgan continued to flourish for the senior team and they won the title in Croke Park.

On Sunday, the Final will be played in Omagh’s Healy Park and while few will disagree that a smaller ground will provide a better atmosphere, it seems some of the magic of the GAA is lost by not letting the Minors play an All-Ireland Final at GAA Headquarters.

Furthermore, there won’t be a speech by the winning captain after the match.

Team coach Stefan Forker has mixed feelings.

“We were standing beside Daithi [O'Callaghan] who won Man of the Match and he was about to get interviewed, then somebody ushered him away,” said Forker.

“I think that’s a bit of a shame, it was a chance for him to have a word. If he speaks well, he speaks well and if he doesn’t then so what? Let them at it.

“You talk about resiliency and all of these words; we need to expose them to that.

“I spoke before about my own experiences and the big days that I got to enjoy. 

“We got to play before these boys (points to Aidan) in ’05 and there was 60-65,000 people watching by the end of the match. 

“I think if you’re thinking of that as a player as a negative thing, I think you’re not going to go too far after that.

“If we’re preparing them for Senior games, surely there are boys who will rise and boys who will fall, but at the end of the day, if you’re going to be playing there in three, four, five years’ time, then you are going to have to deal with that.

“I know there is a problem fixture-wise, but there is an All-Ireland quarter-final on this weekend, there are semi-finals in another two weeks. 

“Croke Park could certainly facilitate a final.

“As a coach of the team I would probably rather have a smaller provincial ground for a bit of atmosphere.

“It (Croke Park) is probably more for the lads to experience the whole day around it. I think sometimes the Hogan Cup final is a bit lost in it, and there is even a debate about whether the quarter-finals should be played in it this weekend and stuff, although I think the crowds will be decent.

“But I think 9-10,000 in Croke Park probably isn’t going to create much atmosphere, but if you get that in Healy Park, it will be a better occasion.”

Forker says his group of players are a mature bunch and that he doesn’t see an issue of his players getting overwhelmed by the occasion.

“That’s the crop we’re dealing with.

“The boys don’t seem to get too high or too low, and that’s exactly the type of person you want in your camp,” Forker said.

“We’re business-like. Training is on this evening; turn up with the right attitude, be ready to work, get our plan, get our house in order and then execute it on the day.

“That was the big thing with the Mayo game in the second half, we executed exactly what we wanted to do and that’s because the work was done. 

“So how do you prepare for the day and produce on the day? You have to have your homework done, your training done, you’re well versed on what you’re supposed to do and you go with the right attitude.

“Hopefully it all comes off. Sometimes it doesn’t, but we’re hoping that we prepare them well. At the end of the day, we bring them to the table and they’re hungry for it. They gobble it up.”