McMahon And Seapoint Determined To Take ‘Step In The Right Direction’

Nineteen years can feel like a lifetime in a rugby club. Seasons blur into one another, generations pass through dressing rooms, stories harden into folklore.

In Seapoint Rugby Club, 2007 has lived that way for a long time, spoken about more than remembered. Referenced more than felt.

This Saturday at Ashbourne RFC (kick-off 2.30pm – live on irishrugby+), a new group finally get the chance to step out from under that shadow and write something of their own.

Donal McMahon was seven years of age the last time Seapoint contested an Energia All-Ireland Men’s Junior Cup final. Too young to properly remember the day, too young to understand what it meant, but old enough now to feel the weight of it.

At 26, Seapoint’s current captain is leading their senior team back to a stage it has not reached since that spring afternoon nearly two decades ago, guiding a new generation toward a moment the south Dublin club has been chasing through turbulence, near misses, and slow rebuilds.

“There’s a real buzz around the club” McMahon says.

“We’ve been close in the last few years and the excitement is there for all to see within the four corners of the club now. There’s a real excitement. We often hear about the team in 2007 who went on to win it and then the same season they also went on to become promoted to the AIL.

That’s always something that we’ve strived for and winning this competition is definitely a benchmark that we want to reach and it’s a sign of progress of where we want to go. It’s a huge opportunity for us to take that step in the right direction come Saturday.”

That feeling has been a long time coming. Seapoint have flirted with this level before, brushed against it, fallen just short often enough for frustration to creep in. Second place finishes, campaigns that promised more than they delivered, seasons that ended with regret rather than celebration. Yet slowly, steadily, something has shifted.

What has changed around Seapoint in recent years is not just results, but belief. The club has endured its share of darker days, periods where survival mattered more than ambition, when relegation bites lingered longer than anyone wanted. But for this new group, the word pressure is not something they will feel coming into this final.

“I wouldn’t say pressure at all” McMahon says.

“There’s a huge amount of support for us. The club has gone through a difficult enough period in the between time and everyone’s just so happy that we’re getting back to being a really competitive team, putting Seapoint back on the map.

We’ve enjoyed some success in the last few years, albeit not really reached what we wanted to in the league, coming up short twice, second in the division twice, two years in a row. We’ve also brought success in terms of winning the Metro Cup last year.

So in terms of pressure, no, there’s definitely not a sense of pressure within the club. It’s just more of a supportiveness and a happiness that we’re back to where we want to be and pushing on to even further heights hopefully.”

For McMahon, this journey is deeply personal. He is Seapoint through and through, a product of the club’s mini system, someone who grew up hearing about what once was, then living through what came next.

Growing up during some “dark years” as he describes it, McMahon learned his trade in Seapoint, before departing for his school days in St Michael’s College, then moving to play for Blackrock College and UCD for a time, but like many players of his generation, the return to his home club was never in doubt.

“I was a Seapoint mini all the way through and I was seven years old when they won the Junior Cup in 2007, so I was probably a bit too young to remember that final. I probably remember my memories of Seapoint from a younger age are probably some of the darker days when the club got relegated and stuff.

It’s been a huge motivation for us as a senior leadership group and as a squad to put that right and get Seapoint back to where we were prior to that year. I’ve been involved with Seapoint since I was a mini and then played a bit in school with St Michael’s College.

Dropped out of the club for a few years and then went on to play with Blackrock in Stradbrook and UCD then for an extended period of time before coming back. Which was always, always the plan to come back and play for my home club Seapoint, this is my fourth season now back in with the club.”

Now he stands at the front of it all, captain of the club he grew up in, his name already woven into its story. A player who is now old enough to understand the aftermath those years that came after the glory of 2007 had on the club.

“It’s a huge, huge honour and it’s a huge privilege to be captain” he says.

“Obviously there’s players that I looked up to from a younger age who were playing in those games and, even getting the opportunity to play with some of them and then to go on as captain and have my name up on the wall, it’s a huge privilege. It comes with responsibility though. I’m delighted to be where I am and hopefully get to lift another bit of silverware at the weekend.”

This run to the final has not been smooth or straightforward for Adam Philpot’s men. Seapoint have had to earn every step, grinding through tight, nerve-fraying contests that have tested their resolve as much as their skill. Cooke, Wicklow, Athy, none of them yielded easily, Seapoint are a team battle hardened coming into this clash.

“You can definitely say we’re battle-hardened in that sense” McMahon says.

“Even in the league as well, we’ve had some really close encounters and come out on the right side and then come out on the wrong side of some of them as well. Which we’ve taken a lot of learnings from and we expect Saturday to be no different. It’s been a hugely enjoyable lead up to the final.

They’ve all been tough games along the way and we’ve taken our learnings from each and every one of them and positives as well. We probably haven’t clicked as well as we would have liked to. We would have liked to not have those close games.”

“We feel like we’re getting really into that flow state now where things are clicking and all at the right time. There’s definitely been some positives to take from those close games. But we would have liked to hopefully not give the fans heart issues on the sideline.”

Dromore await in the final, a challenge respected but not feared. Preparation has been inward-looking, grounded in trust rather than obsessing over their opponents.

“To be honest with you, we haven’t actually really looked at them a huge amount” McMahon admits.

“I don’t think we have any really footage of them. I’m not sure we’re intent on actually looking at much footage of them. Because I think if we focus on ourselves and go into Saturday with being the best version of ourselves, we really back ourselves to beat anyone in the junior leagues.

Obviously we’ll give them the due respect that they deserve. I know that they’ve been up there and close to beating Bective Rangers last year in the semi-final of the qualifier for the AIL. We ran Bective close. We beat Bective in previous years. We’re not worried that we won’t be at the level whatsoever.”

Ashbourne will host the occasion, familiar territory in many ways for a Leinster club. But for Seapoint they are not getting carried away about a familiar venue, once the whistle goes, surroundings fade. It is a normal game with everything on the line, but McMahon will hope they can get a good support behind them

“I think obviously we have played in Ashbourne before and we’ve had some good days there and some bad days there. At the end of the day, once you step on the pitch, you know, it’s the same size, same width, same length and same rugby ball that you’re playing with.”

Obviously it’d be great that our supporters probably have a little bit less of a journey to go than the Dromore supporters do, hopefully it’s going to create an amazing atmosphere down there on Saturday. In terms of us and in terms of how we’re approaching the game, it doesn’t really change anything for us.”

The sense of occasion is unavoidable now. Seventeen years on, Seapoint are back. Expectation will travel with them. Those memories still resonate with supporters who were there when Seapoint defeated Coleraine in 2007.

Former Ireland and Munster star Felix Jones grabbed two second half tries for the side he joined as a mini in that final, as they ran out 47-15 winners. Those memories still resonate with everyone in the club.

“This is the first time we’ve been in this final since 2007. So, you know, I think there’s going to be a huge crowd up there. I think there’s going to be a huge amount of people hoping and wanting us to emulate that team of 2007. The people obviously had a great time that day in 2007 and they’re hoping they get some more of the same.”

McMahon has leaned into the wisdom of those who have walked this path before. Declan Keegan, who lived that dream with the 2007 side, remains close to the group, and McMahon has leaned on his experience going into Saturday’s decider.

“Declan Keegan, who has been an absolute stalwart of the club. I was only chatting to him about it last week and he was just saying how special it was. And he was talking me through all their plans, all their routine from the week. And he was just giving me little nuggets of advice about how we should approach it.

Obviously it turned out to be a good day for them. I’m taking little nuggets off him in terms of advice to bring us forward and hopefully we can emulate the same success that he brought in 2007.”

For Seapoint, this final is not about reliving the past, it is about writing a new chapter. For McMahon, it is about leading the club he grew up in to a moment he has heard about numerous times, but was too young to recall. On Saturday, a seven year old’s faint memory gives way to a captain’s responsibility, and Seapoint step forward not chasing ghosts, but creating something new.

Some similarities exist, namely Ulster opposition once again. Coleraine in 2007, Dromore in 2026, but it is a brand new game and perspective anchors everything. Momentum is building. But the chance is there for a new generation to write their names in the history books for the club.

“We definitely feel like we’re moving in the right direction and we’re not putting too much pressure on ourselves on Saturday. Obviously that team in 2007, it’s a great aspiration to have, but we are under no illusions. We’re a young team and there’s nothing to say if Saturday doesn’t go our way that we won’t be right back here again next year.

We’ve got a young team and we’re really determined. And yeah, we feel like Saturday is obviously a great opportunity and we feel really confident going into it. But there’s no pressure.”

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