'We're going to have to put in a serious shift of hard work' says Abbey CBS captain Diarmaid O'Rourke ahead of the MacRory Cup Final

Team captain Diarmaid O’Rourke spoke ahead of the game, where they will take on St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon, at the Box-It Athletic Grounds, and he says that it is a ‘great feeling’ for them to be competing for the top prize in Ulster Schools’ Gaelic Football.

“There is a good buzz at the minute,” he said.

“It's the furthest we have got in 20 years, so it's a great feeling for all of our team, the management, and the whole school as well.

“But we know that we have a job to do and we're probably trying to hide ourselves from the buzz and excitement as much as possible. We're just trying to keep our heads down, work hard and put ourselves in a good position to give ourselves a good rattle at the final.”

The Abbey, who are coached by former Down stars Dan Gordon and Kevin McKernan, will be full of confidence, as they defeated the last two Hogan Cup winners St Patrick’s, Maghera and Omagh CBS, both away from home, en route to the final.

Their opponents on Sunday are hoping to make a clean sweep of titles, having won the Dalton Cup, the Corn na n'Óg, the Oisin McGrath Cup and the Rannafast Cup coming up through the various age groups, so O’Rourke knows that his side will have to be fully prepared if they are to get the win.

“I know from past years that they have beaten us in the Corn na nOg final, and I know the players that they have,” he said.

“They have top quality players all over the pitch and if we're to have a chance of beating them, we're going to have to put in a serious shift of hard work. We'll have to nullify their key threats, so we'll get our homework done on that and see where that takes us.”

The Abbey CBS team boasts seven Dromintee players who brought home the Ulster Minor Championship title on New Year’s Day.

O’Rourke, who is amongst that group as well as James McBennett, Conor Laverty, Michael O’Neill, Fergus Toale, Oisin Byrne and Charlie Fox, says that it is a joy to play with such a large group of his clubmates.

“Having had the opportunity to play in those (Ulster club) games is a huge experience which you can fall back on,” said the Abbey captain.

“Even the tight games against Omagh and Maghera, those are the games where you take the most learnings from.

“I suppose playing with the Dromintee boys means that we know each other's games, and that works in our favour too. You know what they're going to do in certain situations. It's just small things, but it probably does make a bit of a difference.”

O’Rourke is certainly a prospect to watch out for in the coming years, particularly for Armagh supporters who hope he can follow in his father Aidan’s footsteps.

One skill that separates him from the pack is his ability to kick comfortably off both feet, a trait which he says that he owes to his All-Ireland winning dad.

“I was originally a right footed player,” he said.

“But it took a lot of work to work on that. It's probably taken 10 years of repetition. It's mostly due to my dad making me use my left foot most of the time. That has helped me with using both sides.

“It's a good thing to have in a lot of situations, because it gives you more time on the ball.”