Ratoath not dwelling on the past as history beckons

SHC PREVIEW Cole looking forward to a fresh challenge against Trim

Tom Gannon

Ratoath manager Mike Cole will lead his side into the county final next Sunday for the second time in his two-year reign at the helm. Ratoath will be looking to put memories of heartache in years gone by behind them as they go in search of their first SHC title since 1963.

The Rathmolyon man spoke to the Meath Chronicle about how a group game scare against Longwood brought the Ratoath players back down to earth and focused them on their target which at that stage was an automatic semi-final spot.

“Our second last group game against Longwood was probably a good eye-opener for lads. I'm not saying we were overly complacent that day but we certainly had high expectations," said Cole.

"The lads only hurled to their capabilities for about 15 minutes in the second half. That levelled the lads out to be fair and we knew we had to go out in the last round and beat Killyon well.

"If we didn’t top the group we would have had to take the Kildalkey and Trim route to get to the final. If we had to play two games like that to get to where we are, it would have been a lot more difficult. As it turned out we had to be fully prepped for just one game, a semi against Kilmessan."

Ratoath received plaudits for their performance in the semi-final against Kilmessan. However, when Cole reflects on the game he was able to pick out a period during the game where Ratoath weren’t playing to the standard that he expected. Despite that Ratoath and Cole were delighted to come away with a win against a team that they felt was very capable of putting up a big performance.

“Honestly, we hurled very well against Kilmessan for half an hour. There was about a 20-minute period in the second half where we might have taken our foot off the gas and that was evident in how we played," reflected Cole.

"We did revert to playing a little bit defensively because we were against a strong wind. It was what it was and we got the result. We were delighted, we had no complacency heading into the game.

"Look at their game against Trim this year, the way Kilmessan hurled that day, we knew what they were capable of. In fairness, our lads did their jobs against Kilmessan and we were delighted to come away with the win.”

A lot of talk around the county and in particular around the village of Ratoath has been about this side's heartache in the past few years. They have contested three of the last four finals and have lost all three. Cole admitted that he has used that as motivation as a player, although he recognises that it is important to leave the past in the past.

“If I was in the position of some of our players and I had lost a few finals as a player, of course, I would be using that as motivation in every game I play to try and get to a final and win one," said the Ratoath manager.

"You don’t really want to be thinking about the past because it will only eat you up.

"This year is fresh, it’s a fresh final. There are two teams there that have history in finals gone by but I don’t think it's going to mean anything on the day. Maybe lads have used it in earlier rounds more so to get back to this stage but I don’t think it washes on the day of a county final.”

Ratoath have some brilliant individual players within their ranks and numerous lads could make the difference on the day with a big performance. Cole is adamant that three or four of his key players need to perform to the maximum of their capabilities to beat a strong Trim outfit.

“We have individual players that are capable of unbelievable performances and we have plenty of them," said Cole.

"I think our job is linked to getting them all to do it for one day. I think no matter who you play at this level, you are going to come up against one or two outstanding players.

"Sean Coloe for Longwood was outstanding against most teams this year. If you can get three or four lads to perform at a very high level on any given day, then you're talking about winning matches at that stage. Especially when it comes to the latter rounds and the county final.

"In the final, if we don’t have three or four of our key players performing to their utmost capabilities, we're going to be in trouble.

“Trim are no different in that regard. The likes of Dougie and James Toher needed that semi-final last week and they're going to be sharp. They have the same quality of players that we have and we need our men to stand up on the day,” concluded the Ratoath boss.