The meeting of local rivals St Brigid's and St Oliver Plunkett's is eagerly anticipated, writes IAN O'RIORDAN

EVEN WITH the enduring bliss of their All-Ireland triumph last September there’s a sense of unfinished business in Dublin football. Whatever about being the best county footballers in Ireland, there’s something uniquely satisfying about being the best club footballers in Dublin.

So, not only does tomorrow’s county final top off an already special year for Dublin football, it also involves a special rivalry – St Brigid’s against St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh, their local Navan Road neighbours.

Indeed there are several fascinating layers to this game which probably makes it the most anticipated Dublin county final in years.

St Brigid’s have won the title only once before, in 2003, and have lost two finals since, including last year, when fairly comprehensively beaten by Kilmacud Crokes.

St Oliver Plunkett’s have never won the title, and in fact only made the final once before, in 2008, when they also lost to Kilmacud Crokes. The sense of unfinished business is particularly strong for them.

St Brigid’s beat St Oliver Plunkett’s in last year’s semi-final, limiting the Brogan brothers and co to a mere five points. That didn’t sit too well with the neighbours so the stakes are very high tomorrow.

St Brigid’s now have a dual management team of Mark Byrne and Meath legend Gerry McEntee, the significance of that being McEntee was also in charge when St Brigid’s won their first title, in 2003.

McEntee stepped aside for a few years in between, by his own choice, yet still has a big commitment to the club, despite his other huge commitment as one of the country’s leading surgeons, based in Dublin’s Mater Hospital.

“I have had a break for a few years since managing the 2003 team,” says McEntee, who also works with the club minors.

“I don’t think you could keep it going that length of time, I don’t think anyone could.

“But if you want to make the time you can always find the time. And if I wasn’t with Brigid’s I might be on the golf course, or in the pub, or chasing women. Whatever you do, you need something away from your work, and if it wasn’t football for me it would be something else. But then I don’t put in as much work as Mark Byrne. He puts in a phenomenal amount of work, and I don’t know where he gets the time.

“It is very enjoyable though, to be working with a great bunch of fellas. And this is a great game to be involved with. I don’t think anyone can confidently call what’s going to happen on Sunday. There are so many factors involved.”

McEntee reckons losing last year’s final to Kilmacud was particularly hard to stomach, given St Brigid’s never really got going.

“It did set them back. We were comprehensively beaten, and felt we hadn’t done ourselves justice. So we’d no one to blame except ourselves, and I think we’ve worked even harder to get back to where we were.

“Right now I think this team is somewhat middle of the road at the moment . . . There’s a good mixture there, of young players, mid-20s, and older ones, a couple over 30. But then they wouldn’t be considered a star-studded team, but they do work very hard for each other, and have great team spirit.”

St Brigid’s do boast Barry Cahill from Dublin’s All-Ireland winning team, plus emerging defender Seán Murray, and the likes of John O’Loughlin, from Laois (although they’ve been without injured defender Peadar Andrews).

Despite his status as a former two-time All-Ireland winner with Meath – in 1987 and 1988 – McEntee was glad to witness Dublin’s All-Ireland win over Kerry.

“I think 31 counties, outside of Kerry, were for once happy to see Dublin won. Now that might change after Christmas, if it hasn’t changed already. And I think Dublin being All-Ireland champions has attracted that bit more interest in the county final, even outside the county, especially the fact that we’re close neighbours.

“And these two teams do know each other very well. A lot of them would actually have grown up together, especially given the overlap with the school, St Declan’s. But it’s a healthy rivalry. It’s never spilled over into anything else, and I don’t remember any game with any rancour, because I think the two teams respect each other.”

Both clubs have endured a demanding schedule to get this far, given the backlog of fixtures, yet tiredness won’t the excuse if they lose tomorrow.

“We’ve already had a few lucky escapes. Even the first day against Na Fianna. And then against Kilmacud Crokes, too, and even against Ballymun. We’ve had three very close matches, that at times could have gone either way.

“The funny thing is the heavy schedule of games, in a way, was nice – especially when you’re winning.”