Gort test patience of a saint

The players and mentors of Gort Community School are now praying to St Colman, even though their opponents in Saturday's All-Ireland final have a little more association with the name.

As the patron saint of the area in Galway where hurling is as vital as oxygen, the school often looks to St Colman as a source of inspiration and good fortune. On Saturday, they'll be hoping his spirit doesn't show any preference for St Colman's, Fermoy.

Either way, the trip to Croke Park is a huge occasion for the school which is in only its sixth year in existence, growing from an amalgamation of four neighbouring schools. For Barney Winston, the school's games director, it also marks a rapid progression through the ranks of colleges hurling.

"For the first three years we couldn't win a senior game of any sort," he says. "Then we lost the 1999 semi-final to St Flannan's and the 2000 semi-final to St Kieran's. This is our first final, and to play a school with the record of St Colman's will ensure that this is a game to remember. It should be a cauldron."

One of the school's predecessors, Our Lady's Gort, also established a formidable record in Connacht, winning a historic four-in-a-row between 1972 and 1975.

But only one Connacht school has won the All-Ireland title - St Raphael's, Loughrea in 1995 - and Winston is under no illusion about the challenge in store.

"Of course Fermoy is recognised as one of the hurling strongholds in the country. But we are going up to win. Seven of this team have been involved at this level for the last three years and I think we have every chance of winning."

Of last year's team, captain Conor Crotty and Iarlaith Tannian have once again provided the backbone and Dave Greene, Shane Kavanagh and Joseph O'Leary have shown consistent leadership. Joseph Gantley, the last of the Gantley brothers, has also been lethal at full forward.

Their victory over St Raphael's in the Connacht final last March 19th was nothing less than ruthless, ending with a 23-point winning margin. No Ulster representatives came forward for this year and that meant a straight route to the final.

Now a mixed school of some 750 students, Winston is confident that Gort is firmly established. The standard of under-age hurling in the school is as good as anything he's seen in his lifetime, and it has been a lifetime of hurling. The close proximity with the border with Clare has helped, and it remains unrivalled as the number one sport in the school.

"I would hate to think that the game would not continue to flourish in the area. It is thriving at the moment, and hopeful by about five-to-five on Saturday it will be even better."

Gort CS v St Colman's, Fermoy, Croke Park, Saturday, 3.30.