There may be some rugby snobs among us who might contest that the first ever appearance of Skerries in a Leinster Senior Cup final this Saturday devalues the waning competition still further. But, if the truth be told, the presence of Skerries in the decider is actually the best shot in the arm the old cup has had in years.
Throughout their four-game run to the final, it has been the Skerries supporters who have consistently enlivened the atmosphere and Saturday's Lansdowne Road finale against the holders Lansdowne will be no exception.
"We're hiring a special train for the day to take our supporters to the match," revealed their incoming president Mark Jenkinson, who estimates that given reasonable weather conditions in excess of 1,000 of the town's 9,000 population should make the journey from north county Dublin despite the televised counter-attraction of the FA Cup final.
"All the kids are going to have their faces painted and wear the club's jersey. We see this as an opportunity to enhance the profile not only of the town and the club, but the north-east as well."
Jenkinson and the club derive an understandable amount of pride from the club's run to the final which, ironically, began with one of only two first-round ties, against Greystones, while Lansdowne were winning the other game against Wanderers. "It's been a great boost for the town because people have a sense of identity with the club given so many of our players are products of the under-age structure or played in the school which is, after all, a weaker section school in Leinster. We're not like other clubs who have so many mercenaries. All we can offer our players is some good football, a bit of crack and a bit of exposure."
Jenkinson reckons they've succeeded on all three counts this season, especially as last Saturday's semi-final win over Terenure - their third successive win over Division One clubs following the defeats of St Mary's and Clontarf - preceded the annual dinner later that night, after which reports have varied as to when the last drink was served. `Half past' seems to be the general consensus.
Eight of the starting line-up and 15 of the 22-man squad are homespun products of this homespun club. Jenkinson points out that Skerries won the McGowan (under-14) Cup this year, and the last time they did so Killian Keane was captain while a current first-choice English scrum-half Kyran Bracken was vice-captain.
On the bench last Saturday was a 38-year-old, Nicky McDonagh (who is in his 20th Cup campaign with the club , in which time he's played in the centre, scrum-half and backrow) as well as an 18-year-old lock, Nicky McDonagh, who has only broken into the senior side during this Cup run after featuring on the unbeaten Irish Youths side this season.
Jenkinson reveals that Shay McGuinness, coaching the side for the eighth successive season, had to take Dowling aside "to explain to him how huge this was for the club. Nicky replaced our New Zealand second-row Tony Giles, who is marrying a local girl, during the Mary's game. That was his senior debut. Like myself, Shay played on the firsts for many years and more often than not we never got past the first round."
McDonagh could scarcely contain the tears when presented with the Clubman of the Year award at the annual dinner on Saturday night. "He epitomises what Skerries are about," says Jenkinson, as of course does their Connacht and Ireland A hooker Billy Mulcahy. His loyalty to the club, which perhaps didn't help his representative career, is legendary and this constitutes his 15th Cup campaign with Skerries, and his fifth in a row as captain.
Though Skerries were initially on the outside looking in at the two-division All-Ireland League, Jenkinson has no doubt what the catalyst was for the club's rise in status. "We were a Cinderella club for a long time and then the AIL came along. The AIL has been our salvation."
Skerries were in the fourth division as recently as four seasons ago, but subsequently won successive promotions and have now held their own as the leading Leinster club in the second division for the last two seasons.
Ironically, McGuinness's assistant is Willie Dawson, a former Cup winner with Lansdowne, while the holders' tight-head in the final line-up announced yesterday is Ollie Ennis, who left Skerries to join Lansdowne a year ago. In the holders' only change, Brian Glennon returns from injury and is preferred to Johnny Woods at out-half in the continuing absence of the unavailable Niall Gunne. Skerries expect to be unchanged.
In Munster, Young Munster will be on their holy grail again, seeking to avert an eighth Senior Cup final defeat since their last success in 1990, and sixth in succession, against the AIL champions Shannon, who are looking for their second AIL-Munster Cup double in three years.
However, Lansdowne Road is where that old cliche about the romance of the Cup for once applies, and Skerries are intent on making their presence felt. A search of the local hinterland has been concluded for a goat to act as the club mascot on the day. Negotiations are in place with the local farmer, though if they are not productive, there could be a kidnapping according to PRO Billy Beggs. "Cup final fever has gripped the town. Noise, and lots more noise will be the focus of the day. Everything from badhrans to dustbin lids will be used."
"Win, lose or draw, the players will be clapped off the pitch like heroes," vows Jenkinson of Saturday's final. And win, lose or draw the night should finish at about 'half past' again.
