'Did I think we could make the final? Absolutely, yeah'

IFC final preview

Despite having tasted success in the county and Ulster Championships at junior level, Denn manager Stephen Baxter found he was running on fumes by the early part of 2022. For Denn, whose 2020 Junior Championship final against Templeport was delayed for 10 months due to pandemic-related restrictions, it must have felt like a never-ending season.

After taking some time out, Baxter returned this year and he and his team now find themselves in an Intermediate Championship final, which represents real progress. From the outset, he insists, he felt this was achievable.

“The year out just freshened things up, I needed a break after the three long years that I in was there. Delighted to be back and delighted to be in the final needless to say as well,” Baxter told the Anglo-Celt last Saturday at the launch.

“Did I think we could make a final? Absolutely, yeah. No two ways about it, I knew the team very well from winning that Ulster title and I knew from talking to them as well that that hunger was there. A lot of people maybe thought that and that worked to our advantage to a certain extent but yeah, fully convinced we could get this far from the start.”

When he looks back over this campaign – six matches, five wins and some impressive scalps – there are a few moments which stand out.

“We just took it game by game, I know it’s a saying but we actually did. I suppose, the Templeport game, we didn’t know what we were going to face that day out and that gave us a big boost, that was a really good performance. We got a good start, Templeport came back at us and then we won comfortably enough in the end.

“I suppose the Drumgoon game, that was a massive game for us as well. To get that monkey off our backs, they were after beating us a couple of times before that – and that was winning ugly as well.

“We were confident that we could beat Cootehill and then Shercock – Shercock is Shercock, they’re tough, they’re a dogged team. We got over that challenge and now the next challenge facing us is the massive one that is Ballyhaise.

“The Drumgoon game probably gave us the most satisfaction, that was a really tough, physical game that day in Killinkere.”

Denn have shown an ability to leave poor form behind them and click into a higher gear. In 2021, they were idling along before drawing with Knockbride in the county semi-final. From the replay on, they were a different team – and the same has been the case this year ever since a poor showing in the Division 3 league final against Drumgoon.

How have they done this?

“I don’t know! I suppose if we knew the secret to that, everyone would be great managers! I suppose going back two years ago now, we probably should have beaten Knockbride the first day in the first semi-final and the second day, we did blow them away and I suppose, calling a spade a spade, whoever won that was going to win the Junior Championship and that’s no disrespect to Drung.

“And then there was no pressure in Ulster and we really enjoyed it, I suppose I had a bit of experience with Ballymachugh two or three years before that and I knew exactly what we’d be facing in Ulster and I knew if the team clicked… we played the Antrim champions out here the first day and that was a dreadful game.

“Then we played the Derry champions, Desertmartin, in the semi-final and that was a really good game, they had young Lachlann Murray up front, he’s a regular now on the Derry seniors. That was a really, really good win and then against the Downings, our tails were up at that stage.

“There was no pressure on us in Ulster and it’s the same in this Intermediate Championship to a certain extent. There is no pressure, boys are going out there enjoying their football and it’s going well.

“I suppose we have no injuries either and that’s a big thing, we’re lucky but boys had a lot of work done in the gym and everything else just to make sure we didn’t get injuries. That doesn’t happen by accident.”

Sometimes, managers and teams just click – or the opposite – and that seems to be the case with Baxter and this Denn group.

“I honestly don’t know (why they get on so well). It worked well from the very start, I think they’re honest with me and I’m honest with them, they never gave an ounce of trouble in the three or four years that I’m there.

“They just bought in to what it is. I suppose, look, when you’re winning games, it’s easy to keep them onside. When you’re losing games it’s harder.

“We had our challenges, the Templeport final that we got beat in and even the Drumgoon league final that we lost here a few weeks ago… There’s no bitching, there’s nothing else, we just keep going. It’s honesty of effort and that’s really what it is. They’re honest with me, I’m honest with them and it works both ways.”

Ballyhaise stand in Denn’s way. Asked what players he will be identifying as major threats, Baxter’s answer comes quickly: they are all, he say, quality.

“It’s all 15 of them. In fairness to them, they’re an exceptional team. They should be out of intermediate at this stage, they’re not for whatever reason that is. Last year they were one of the best teams in Division 1, they were up there contesting with the Ramors and Crosserloughs of this world.

“This year they held their own very easily in Division 1 so it’s a massive challenge for us and we don’t under-estimate it in any way.”