Jude’s hoping to go one step further than last year

St Jude’s will be hoping the bitter disappointment of last year’s final reversal can spur them to victory in this Saturday’s Dublin SHC ‘A’ final against Cuala (3.0).

Seán Fallon’s talented Tymon North outfit were edged out by Kilmacud Crokes in last year’s decider but have shown great character to pick their route back to this weekend’s eagerly awaited final.

Jude’s defeated Lucan Sarsfields, 1-16 to 1-11, in their semi-final much to the delight of their manager Seán Fallon.

“All credit to the lads for coming through against Lucan,” said Fallon.

“There’s great belief in the group and they dug at it despite it going down to the wire.

“There is a great attitude there among the players and while the performance wasn’t flawless, I don’t think anyone would ever doubt the heart in that team.

“There’s a bit of hurt there from last year and there’s no point in saying that it’s not a driving factor but this is a new year and we just have to try to be as good as we can in the final and put in a strong performance in the final.

“We have a lot of young guys there that are keen to develop and be as good as they can be and lads like Fionn Ó Riain Broin really stood up in the closing minutes to see out the game (against Lucan).

“Anyone who has watched us would have to say that our full-back line is excellent.

“We would regard Ger (McManus) as possibly the best full-back in the county and the level of performance he produces week-in, week-out is outstanding and it’s no surprise that he’s a real leader in our group.

“We also have Ciarán Mangan and Eoin McLoughlin playing very well either side of Ger and that’s very important for the team,” adds Seán.

Ticket prices for Saturday's SHC 'A' final and Sunday's SFC final are - Stand: €13 adults, €10 students, €5 OAPs; Terrace: €13 adults, €5 for students and OAPs; U16s free of charge; Juvenile groups to terrace only.