Walsh looking forward to huge occasion

All-Ireland Junior Cup final: It's the realisation of a shared ambition for two progressive clubs that crave senior status.

When Seapoint face Coleraine in the AIB All-Ireland Junior Cup final at Dubarry Park in Athlone tomorrow, they'll enjoy a small taste of what their future might hold.

Seapoint have come agonisingly close to achieving senior status, finishing runner-up in the Leinster League for the past two seasons and third the year before that; and in 2003 they made the All-Ireland round-robin series only to lose out to Bruff, who graduated to senior rugby.

Captain and number eight Johnny Walsh leads a team that draws mainly on the past pupils of CBC Monkstown, Pres Glasthule and St Andrew's. He packs down alongside his brother, Stephen.

"It's been a mixed season," he said. "We were doing well in the league but let it go in the end. We have a young-enough side with a bit of experience. We've been together, the core of the team, for about five years and are good friends.

"We got to the semis of the Metropolitan Cup, we are in the final of the Spencer Cup and in the semis of the Presidents Cup. It's a huge occasion for the club and the team. There are a lot of supporters travelling down and everyone is looking forward to the day since we got into it. We know we need to improve from recent performances.

"We like to play an open, running brand of rugby. We have plenty of speed out wide - Ireland under-20 international fullback Felix Jones is a key player - and the forwards are comfortable mixing it up if we have to do that."

The south Dublin club are opposed by Coleraine, another junior club striving for senior status. Captain John Boyd explained how they have been faring this season. "We have been knocking on the door (of senior status) over the past 10 years. We have finished runners up (in the Ulster League) on a number of occasions. We just haven't got over the final hurdle yet and that remains an ambition.

"We field five teams every Saturday outside of the mini-rugby. It's a reasonable-sized club.

"We like to play an open, fast game of rugby and that's certainly the way we train. We have a good set of speedy backs and our back row look to support them. It's a young team with a few older heads.

"We had a poor league performance, finishing fourth. This would be our worst league campaign for 10 years. We were hit by injury and poor performances. We took a lot of things for granted and it didn't work."

Coleraine haven't had a game for three weeks but a practice match played last weekend could deprive them of a couple of players who sustained injuries, including Boyd. "It's a massive experience for the guys and shows us the standards we need to aim for in the future.

"There's big support coming down. Armagh won it last year and we are trying to follow in their footsteps and keep it up north. It's been a long season (80 coaching sessions and 30 matches) but on days like this it all seems worthwhile."