When the pressure comes on you want your leaders to stand up and be counted and that’s exactly what St Michael’s captain Brandon Horan did in Monday’s MacRory Cup final.

An eight point half time lead was whittled down to two in the space of 13 minutes in the second half as Omagh fought back but St Michael’s were not about to fold and driven on by midfielder Horan they responded to push on for victory.

The Enniskillen Gaels player’s fielding was exceptional, mark after mark was secured as he got on the end of Sean McNally’s kick outs to relieve pressure and become the launchpad for St Michael’s attacks as they pushed on for the victory.

So, what does it feel like to be captain of a MacRory Cup winning side?

“It is the best feeling ever. It is an honour to captain a great team and to finally achieve this is surreal,” he said. “The aim from the start of the year was to go and win a MacRory Cup, we knew we had it in us and I thought the quality was there today.”

St Michael’s got off to a flying start to the game as they dominated the first half with the likes of Darragh McBrien and Micheál Glynn tearing the Omagh defence apart.

“Boys like Darragh McBrien and Micheál Glynn really turned it on. Those boys are a year younger but they are really mature and they were very good.

“We also knew that the workrate had to be there and it was. We have put in the work throughout the year and thankfully it has paid dividends,” he added.

Omagh did come back at St Michael’s in the second half and Horan admits that there was some nervous moments but they managed to turn it back around as they ensured that the cup returned to Fermanagh.

“To say I was a wee bit nervous at that stage is an understatement but there is a lot of character in this team and we have leaders all over the pitch. As we said against Maghera, if we have a set back we’ll bounce back and we did that. We are just delighted to get the result and the win,” he said.

There is no time though to dwell too much on a famous victory though as St Michael’s are back in action next Wednesday in the Hogan Cup and Horan wants to make an impression now at the All Ireland stage.

“The Hogan Cup is the big one for schools, we will now focus on that and hopefully we can do Ulster proud in the semi-final,” stated Brandon.