'Once I saved one, I was confident I'd save two' - Naomh Padraig's Oran McCauley

Naomh Padraig, Uisce Chaoin goalkeeper Oran McCauley knew he only needed two saves during the dreaded task of a penalty shootout to carry his club into an All-Ireland junior final. 

Parnell Park, in the north side of Dublin city was painted blue and gold last Sunday afternoon when the Inishowen men overcame 80 nail-biting minutes of football, followed by penalties against Cill Mhuire of Cork to see themselves through to a national final on January 25 in Croke Park. 

The game swung like a pendulum from start to finish, and as the clocks ticked towards injury-time, it looked very much like it was going to be Cill Mhuire’s day, but a late penalty kick from Kevin Lynch was enough to put the Naomh Padraig men back in the tie as they saw out a 1-13 to 2-10 semi-final draw. 

What followed is the heartbreak of penalty kicks. Penalties would break the spirits of most footballers, but McCauley, in the nets, was relishing the opportunity, with Cill Mhuire’s first attempt hitting the post, before the team’s third and fourth kicks were denied by the Inishowen native to see his side through with a 3-1 win. 

“It’s brilliant, words can’t describe how I’m feeling,” McCauley said straight after the game. “We had some support today and it was brilliant to do it for them. 

For McCauley, the nerves never entered his psyche. From the off, he fully believed to be in control. 

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“It was grand,” he admitted. “I knew that I had a good chance when they missed the first. Thankfully, I guessed the right way.” 

The goalkeeper was well prepared! 

“I had a little piece of paper in my sock, but it had no names on it, they came off, but I kept saying to them, ‘I know where you’re going’, but then when I saw their first penalty taker, I saw he wasn’t on my list. 

“I was trying to use it (the psychology game), and thankfully it paid off. Once I saved one, I was confident then, and I knew I’d get two. All I kept saying to myself was, ‘all I needed is two saves.’” 

He also felt the spirit of teammate Evan Craig, who tragically passed away in 2024, with him and guiding his every move. 

“I was asking Evan (Craig) to tell me where to go and luckily, I went the right way,” McCauley said. 

“Evan has been a big motivation for us. We hang his jersey up before every match, and now we want to do it for Joe and Grace (his parents) and go one step further and get Evan his All-Ireland medal. 

“At the start of the year, this club had no trophies, and now hopefully, we can get a third into the cabinet . . . we just have one more step.”