Uibh Laoire captain Cathal Vaughan driven by another shot at history

The pain of last year’s final defeat has been parked, not forgotten, as Uibh Laoire captain Cathal Vaughan prepares to lead his club back into battle in Saturday’s McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC final against Kiskeam at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh (7pm).

A year after falling short against Aghabullogue in the decider, Uibh Laoire have worked their way back to the biggest day in the championship calendar and stand just 60 minutes away from reaching the senior ranks for the first time in the club’s history.

For Vaughan, there has been little value in dwelling on the disappointment of last season.

“It was disappointing to lose, but we kind of just knuckled down again this year,” he says.

“We took every game as it came. We had a good league campaign in Division 2, getting promoted, and we used a lot of players due to injuries and different things, so we probably have a couple of new lads involved this year and that brings a bit of freshness to it.

“It’s a new management team pretty much, so it kind of felt like a new start. What happened last year was last year. We’re just looking forward to this one now and hoping we can do the job.” 

Uibh Laoire’s response to that setback has been impressive. They have been among the standout teams in the grade all season and navigated their way through a demanding championship campaign to return to the final.

However, Vaughan insists there was never any grand masterplan beyond focusing on the next challenge.

“You can’t really dwell on it,” he said.

“What else are you going to do only get back training, get back playing league games and see where that takes you? Every championship game, we just focused on putting in a good performance. 

"There were tough games in the group stage and then the semi-final against Naomh Abán was tough again, but we just focused on getting results and getting ourselves back to another final.” 

Standing between Uibh Laoire and a place in senior football are Kiskeam, who have quietly put together a strong campaign of their own.

“They’ve had a great year,” Vaughan says.

“We’ve played them before and we know they’re a good side. But, to be honest, we’re mainly focused on ourselves and what we can bring to the table.

“No matter who you meet in a county final, they’re going to be a quality team. We just want to produce our best performance and see where that takes us over 60 minutes.” 

Having spent much of his career playing junior football, Vaughan is keenly aware of the significance of the opportunity before them.

“I’ve probably played junior football for nearly ten years. If we’re good enough to make that next step, the result will speak for itself. We can only keep doing our best and see where it takes us. Hopefully, this time, it will be enough.”