Eddie Courtney does not have happy memories of St Michael’s last appearance in a Hogan Cup final but he feels that this current group could go one better than his side and get their hands on the blue riband of Colleges’ football.

Courtney was a key member of the St Michael’s side that secured the MacRory Cup in 2012 and victory over the Munster champions put them through to meeting with St Mary’s Edenderry in the decider.

However, St Michael’s had simply no answer on the day to their impressive opponents who ran out 1-16 to 0-08 victors..

“It was one of those days that you would want to forget about,” recalled Aughadrumsee man Courtney.

“We couldn’t blame the occasion or anything like that, we were fairly well settled on the big days, but we just came up against a side that was sheer quality on the day.

“They had Daniel Flynn playing for them at midfield and he destroyed us, we couldn’t get a handle on him at all. He went out to Australia after that and he has been prolific with Kildare since he came back,” he added.

The forward though felt that St Michael’s went into the game in a confident frame of mind after battling their way to that stage.

“We had beaten Omagh in the quarter final of the MacRory by one, we beat Armagh by one and then Maghera by two in the final. We then beat the Dingle side by one in the Hogan Cup semi so we were confident enough going into that final. Look, it was just a far better side on the day and we can have no real qualms about the defeat.

“It was hard to take but I suppose with the margin of the defeat it was kind of easier to take than if we had lost by one,” he stated.

It has taken St Michael’s seven years to win their next MacRory and Courtney has been impressed with the current crop.

“They were excellent in the MacRory final and they blew away Claremorris in the Hogan semi-final and I think they have a massive chance.

“They should relish the game. They could easily have got carried away after beating Omagh in the MacRory Final but they didn’t, they got the heads down and worked away and hopefully they can go on and win it.

“To win a Hogan Cup for St Michael’s would be unbelievable. No team from the school has managed to win it yet so it would be an unreal achievement.”

Courtney will be there in Croke Park on Saturday to watch the side and is hopeful of a big Fermanagh support.

“Anybody who has any interest in football in Fermanagh will be there. Hopefully there will be a big crowd to roar the boys on and it would be brilliant to see them get over the line,” he added.

And he would be particularly delighted if manager Dom Corrigan could finally get his hands on the Hogan Cup.

“I was chatting a couple of different men in here at work about Dom and his sheer ability as a motivator never mind as a manager. He would have you ready to run through a wall for him after he speaks and I would love to see him get his hands on it and it would be just rewards for what he has done for the school and the county as well. Nobody deserves it more than him.”.