Ballyclare's All Ireland Junior Cup win 'really special' for Mike Orchin-McKeever

“It is really special to win that Irish national title and it is really cool for the team,” he said. “I remember sitting in a players’ group meeting when at Blackrock and my centre partner Rob Keogh said his focus was to become an All Ireland champion and I thought that really means something and it resonated with me.

“The boys have achieved something special but now it is a ‘next job focus’ and we’ll give our full attention to the next league game.

"I don’t really smile until the full-time whistle then you get a quick bit of reflection and you get to see the raw emotion of delight and joy of the players and the sideline.

“The sideline support was brilliant and that is what probably drove the players on a lot and the boys really enjoyed it.”

Normally finals are tight cagy affairs but Ballyclare had a commanding 22-3 lead at half-time and added another 26 points in the second half.

“We got off to a flyer and the game just flowed for them, we have had a lot of finals in recent seasons, two last year and two the season before,” he said. "So we are not new to them.

"And it was a kind of ‘here we go again’-type of attitude.

“The anxieties and stresses were well under control.

"Some of the younger players...one in his first year out of school, was maybe a bit worked up for it.

“Great start to the game and a brilliant defensive effort.

"Bective were very physical and direct.

“The game got away from them.

"And it may be flattered us a bit towards the last 15 minutes.”

The triumph was more remarkable as Ballyclare played all four ties en route to lifting the cup away from home.

“If you want to call it the hard way then, yeah,” he said. “But maybe that is what drove the focus and the intention and not having any complacency of being at home.”

Orchin-McKeever, who also coaches at Ballyclare High School, is hoping Saturday’s success in the final will help to continue the growth of rugby at all levels in the Co Antrim town.

He said: “We had a really fun 24 hours of high-energy rugby in Ballyclare, we had U12s’ matches leading into our girls’ tag rugby, our Medallion team had a training session then it felt like the whole town came out to watch the school play at the club on Friday night.

“We did that fixture to give them a different experience of playing the game and a lot of the club players came down to watch the school, which was really nice.

“It was pretty cool at full-time when you see the amount of real young ones, Year 8s and e- mini-rugby players getting on the pitch and getting a photo with the captain.

“They are building themselves as role models and leaders for the little ones.”