Month: September 2021

A REWARD AGAIN for his individual excellence and a part of a collective breakthrough that his Monaghan camp had yearned for.

Conor McManus picked up his third All-Star award last month after his attacking endeavours this year. He was part of a side that smashed through a barrier to land a coveted All-Ireland semi-final spot.

There was some memorable experiences like his individual showing when Kerry came to Clones in July and the joy as their county’s fans spilled onto pitch in Salthill six days later.

Yet when Conor McManus scans his eye back over the 2018 season, it is the low notes that are pressed into view.

The late knockout blow Fermanagh delivered in early June in Healy Park. Tyrone at the heart of another disappointment in Croke Park in August.

“The two things that stick out are not being in an Ulster final and not been in an All-Ireland final,” said McManus, speaking in Philadelphia on the 2018 PWC All-Stars tour.

“That’s ultimately what you see when you look back on the year. We had chances to be in both finals but we were in neither of them. But there were a lot of positives as well because the Super 8s went well for us and and we probably played our best football under Malachy for the past six years last year and you could see signs of improvement as we went throughout the year.

“Made a big start to the championship but didn’t perform against Fermanagh. Got things up and running again and got within a kick of a ball of an All-Ireland final. So from that point of view it was a decent year but regret is the overriding feeling about the year. I’d say if you were to ask any footballer about the year that’s the way they would feel – apart from the Dubs obviously.”

Victory over Galway propelled Monaghan into an All-Ireland semi-final this year.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

McManus is mindful of their capacity to keep rebounding and competing. He’s been aware of the epitaphs written at the close of campaigns for Monaghan teams.

“We have been listening to that for the past ten years.Monaghan were finished when Banty left and we are still standing. As a group and as a team we feel we can improve and if we do that we will be there or thereabouts.

“Everybody is telling you when you are talking to them or meet them take the next step and get to the All-Ireland final. If it was only as simple as that we would have done it long away.

“The big thing is to be involved in the Super 8s that the key to anybody’s year and we need to get back there by hook or by crook in order to have a chance to kick on.

“That’s where the year is. There are two separate seasons now – there is a provincial championship and you
have the Super 8s and if you are there it’s game on.”

When Monaghan got to the Super 8s this year, their goalkeeper stepped forward to illuminate the stage. Rory Beggan’s exploits helped him wind up the year with a personal accolade that sparked a heated debate as he was chosen instead of Stephen Cluxton.

McManus is well placed to judge their merits.

“I said this before we will look back on Gaelic football in 20 years’ time and look on Stephen Cluxton having changed the game and probably the best goalkeeper of all time. What Rory is doing now is that he is bringing that on a wee bit further.

“I don’t believe there was an argument in in this year. I think Rory was the best goalkeeper in the country this year. Stephen Cluxton will go down as the best ever but this year there was no argument about it (the All Star).”

This afternoon in Omagh, Beggan will be a central figure as Scotstown bid to land the biggest prize in Ulster club football. His ability with the boot and his rate of improvement since first joining the squad has left McManus enthused.

Rory Beggan won his first All-Star award in 2018.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

“I don’t know what he’s at there must be weight in them boots he wears. Just to watch him is amazing, two steps back and he hits the ball 65 yards.

“It just has not happened overnight, since he came in in 2013 to us, the difference between then and now is like day and night. It did not just happen, Rory has worked damn hard, at the end of every session, he is there with myself and a few others practicing and stays at that as long as anyone.”

As McManus starts to plot and plan for 2019, a change in direction off the pitch is something he hopes will benefit his performances.

“It’s Sherry Fitzgerald. I own the business. I was working in property services above in Dublin with MCR. I was with them for three years. That’s what I’m qualified in – I did a degree in building surveillance in college. The business is in Monaghan town.

“It was a route for getting back and settling at home in Monaghan and minimized the journey to training which was a bit factor in it by to honest. I was above living in Dublin. Just up and down the road all the time for training.”

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1. As Boca Juniors’ bus approached Estadio Monumental a couple of hours before kickoff, it turned down Avenida Monroe, a well-known gathering spot for River fans before games and not, as a rule, the route a visiting team would take. It was traveling quickly, flanked by police outriders.

But as it slowed to turn a corner, the bus was confronted by hundreds of River fans. They threw stones, sticks and bottles. The windows shattered. The driver fainted. A Boca vice president, Horacio Paolini, had to take the wheel. The police, according to several reports, fired pepper spray to disperse the crowd. It drifted inside the bus.

A few moments later, Boca arrived at the stadium, its players coughing, retching, their throats burning from the gas. Shards of glass had hit two players, Pablo Pérez and Gonzalo Lamardo, in the eye. Others had been cut by the debris.

“We had come to play a game, and we found a completely different situation,” said Marcelo London, a Boca official.

Writing in the New York Times, Rory Smith describes the mayhem surrounding the Copa Libertadores final between River Plate and Boca Juniors.

Former Tipperary hurler Seamus Hennessy.

Source: Lorraine O’Sullivan/INPHO

2. Josie had taken her own life and Seamus, an only child, fell inevitably deaf to all the kindness splashing around him now. “I knew I’d never be able to speak to her again” he remembers. “I never said it to anyone at the time, but I knew it wasn’t going to be ok.

“It couldn’t be!”

It was maybe six months after the funeral that his dad, also Seamus, enrolled him in a 12-week Rainbows counselling course at Borrisokane Community College. And that Tuesday evening course, overseen by Sister Nora Hartigan, somehow got him talking about his heartbreak. How? To this day, Hennessy’s not entirely sure.

He just remembers that first night in the hall and maybe “nine or 10″ kids looking across at one another like self-conscious aliens. And a full decade later, he still hadn’t yet quite processed the heavy blind lifted on his emotions by Sister Nora. Suffice to say, Seamus Hennessy just took to opening up about human fragility during those twelve weeks in Borrisokane.

And he hasn’t stopped doing it since.

Former Tipperary hurler Seamus Hennessy gives a candid interview to Vincent Hogan of the Irish Independent about losing his mother to suicide and his plans to run the Antarctic Ice Marathon to raise money for suicide charities. 

Stephen Kenny.

Source: Tom Honan/INPHO

3. Stephen found us. We didn’t find him,” says Cox. ”Stephen approached one of the boys (on the board). I was away on holidays that particular week. It was coming to the end of the season. 

“He knew more about Longford Town than we did. He was able to tell him about every match we played for the previous 12 months. He was able to tell us about this player and that player that we had. And he said they were all journeymen. And he says that if I get the job, every one of them is going.

“He said there’d be a new team of young players coming in and they won’t cost a fraction of what the old team cost. And he was right there because his average player was on about 50 quid a week.

“They had met in the Tally Ho (bar in New Street in Longford). So I said I’d meet him there at half two on the following Tuesday. The first thing he did say to me was ‘Mick, can I have a private word with you?’ He said, ‘let’s be straight about this. If I get this job, this will be the last meeting we will hold in a public house.’

“He wasn’t into that. He wanted everything done privately where nobody could hear what was said. He laid down the law very early.”

RTÉ Sport’s Conor Neville writes about the impact Stephen Kenny had during his time as manager of Longford Town.

An image from the strongman ”Arnold Classic Europe” 2018 multisport competition in Barcelona.

Source: Celestino Arce Lavin

4. The first strongman competition he went to was in Cork sometime around 2011. He hadn’t a clue what to do, or really even about what was involved. He’d seen it on TV around Christmas, the same as everyone. It was all about lifting roll logs and barrels and stones and all that carry-on. He knew what he knew but he didn’t know a lot.

“I landed below and I was one of the smallest men there. I was just going, ‘Jesus, what am I at here?’ These big fat fellas with the beards and everything, they were monsters compared to me. And I just thought I was wasting my time straight away. But I had a crack at it anyway and I nearly won the show.

“The only reason I didn’t was technique. In the last event, the lads that beat me were able to lift the stone better than me because their technique was better. They were more used to it. I came third or fourth or whatever it was, but that set me off. I knew then that if I could keep training and keep improving my technique, that was going to be key to it.”

The Irish Times’ Malachy Clerkin speaks to Limerick man Pa O’Dwyer about his love affair with participating in strongman competitions.

Macclesfield Town’s new manager Sol Campbell.

Source: PA Wire/PA Images

5. Ultimately, though, I hope Campbell makes a decent fist of it, bearing in mind we are coming up for 2019 and, rather pathetically, I find myself encouraged by the fact there are now eight BAME managers in the game. Eighteen months ago the figure was two – so small steps, and all that. But how absurd is it that eight out of 92 can feel like a minor breakthrough?

The sport can hardly congratulate itself when there is still so much incontrovertible evidence – ignore the data and just use your eyes – that black managers do not get the same chances as white managers. Campbell has been kept waiting until the age of 44 (though, interestingly, he says he has applied for only 10-to-15 jobs over a seven‑year period) and, for a man widely accused of having a superiority complex, at least he has not turned up his nose about the idea of starting at the bottom.

Since 1990 he is only the sixth black man to play for England and then go into management and if it doesn’t work out for him at Macclesfield the harsh reality is that he should not expect another chance. According to the League Managers Association, almost two thirds of all the black managers who have passed through the Football League never get a second job.

Writing in The Guardian, Daniel Taylor offers his thoughts on Sol Campbell’s appointment as the new manager of the Macclesfield Town club.

Former Kerry boss Éamonn Fitzmaurice.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

6. The level of GAA analysis, especially on the mainstream tv shows is poor. It has improved but overall, it’s poor.

In general, punditry seems to be a race to the bottom on social media in an effort to stay current and relevant. In place of cutting-edge analysis is a controversy-first model.”

A few of his compatriots weren’t slow to cut his legs off either as Kerry manager. It’s disappointing when you see players you soldiered with displaying more loyalty to a newspaper or broadcaster than someone they were in the trenches with, but that’s the game.

[Pat]Spillane had a good few pops.

Look, when you’ve eight All-Ireland medals, you can pretty much say what you want. Pat had plenty to say about players he won those All Irelands with when they were managing Kerry, so I wasn’t foolish enough to think he was going to spare me.

What amuses me though is the way he will send the odd text message either preceding or following a lambasting.

 He reminds me a bit of Donald Trump. He has a huge ego, he understands how the media works and he’s good for a sound bite to keep himself relevant. But, personally speaking, I wouldn’t have him within a million miles of a Kerry team.

In an extensive interview with Tony Leen of the Irish Examiner, former Kerry manager Éamonn Fitzmaurice covers a range of topics, including his views on GAA punditry.

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ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONS Dublin scooped seven All-Stars, and captain Sinéad Aherne was named Senior Players’ Player of the Year, at the annual LGFA awards banquet in Dublin last night.

Aherne — who was also named an All-Star for a brilliant seventh time — collected the top individual prize ahead of team-mate Lyndsey Davey and Cork captain Ciara O’Sullivan.

Dubs stopper Ciara Trant was named as the All-Star goalkeeper while in the half-back line, Sinéad Goldrick won her sixth All-Star.

There was a first award for Lauren Magee in midfield while 2017 Player of the Year Noelle Healy joined Davey and Aherne in the forwards.

All-Ireland runners-up Cork filled four places on the team, including sisters Ciara and Doireann O’Sullivan, while Donegal, Galway, Kerry and Tyrone all had one representative each.

At intermediate level, Tyrone captain Neamh Woods was named Players’ Player of the Year while Louth captain Kate Flood won the junior prize.

2018 TG4 Ladies Football All-Star team

1. Ciara Trant (Dublin) – 2nd award

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2. Treasa Doherty (Donegal) – 1st award
3. Róisín Phelan (Cork) – 1st award
4. Sinéad Burke (Galway) – 1st award

5. Sinéad Goldrick (Dublin) – 6th award
6. Siobhán McGrath (Dublin) – 3rd award
7. Emma Spillane (Cork) – 2nd award

8. Neamh Woods (Tyrone) – 2nd award
9. Lauren Magee (Dublin) – 1st award

10. Ciara O’Sullivan (Cork) – 4th award
11. Noelle Healy (Dublin) – 4th award
12. Lyndsey Davey (Dublin) – 4th award

13. Sinéad Aherne (Dublin) – 7th award
14. Doireann O’Sullivan (Cork) – 1st award
15. Sarah Houlihan (Kerry) – 3rd award

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SEAMUS HICKEY HAS decided to go out at the top.

The 31-year-old announced his retirement from Limerick duty this morning, just months after the county won their first All-Ireland hurling crown since 1973.

The Murroe-Boher native made his debut for the Treaty in 2006, won Young Hurler of the Year the following season, the Munster crown in 2013 and an All-Star in 2014.

Hickey mainly featured as a substitute during the 2018 championship campaign, with his last appearance arriving off the bench against Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final.

It was a busy year for Hickey as his wife Ellen gave birth to twin boys in March.

“It has been God’s great blessing and an enormous privilege to wear the Limerick jersey from my teenage years through my entire adult life,” Hickey said in a statement released through the GPA.

“It is an even greater blessing to have been part of an incredible group of people in 2018 and to deliver to Limerick what the proud sporting county deserved: the Liam McCarthy.

“I have now decided to step away from the Limerick senior hurling panel. I am eternally grateful to my club Murroe Boher, to the GPA for their incredible support and guidance, to the exceptional teammates I’ve had, the inspiring managers, the perennially selfless backroom teams, the successes, the failures and everything I have learned along the way. 

“It was all made possible by the phenomenal support I receive constantly from my extraordinary wife and children, my parents and my family. They have given so much of themselves so that I could live my dream. My dream off the field has now grown bigger than the one on it and I look forward to being the very best husband, father, brother and son I can be.

“God is good, Luimneach abú!”

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ANTRIM HAVE CONFIRMED that Anthony Daly will act as an advisor to new senior hurling team manager Neal Peden in the coming season.

The former Clare and Dublin manager will take a similar role to the one Liam Sheedy held for the past couple of years. Sheedy was recently appointed to the Tipperary hot-seat and reportedly helped convince Daly to assume his old position.

Daly led Kilmacud Crokes to victory over reigning All-Ireland champions Cuala in this year’s Dublin SHC semi-final before they fell to Ballyboden St Enda’s in the decider. He was in the running to replace Pat Gilroy as Dublin boss, but Matty Kenny was appointed as manager last month.

It’s believed Daly will remain in charge of Kilmacud next season. 

Congratulations to Neal Peden who has been ratified as Antrim Senior Hurling Team Manager for 2019

Also assisting Neal will be :

Karl McKeegan Selector
Gary O’Kane. Selector
Jim Close Selector
Anthony Daly Advisor

Good luck for the year ahead #Saffs pic.twitter.com/AA7JIrpEEP

— Antrim GAA (@AontroimGAA) December 3, 2018

Peaden takes over from former joint-managers Terence McNaughton and Dominic McKinley. Along with Daly, his backroom team includes Karl McKeegan, Gary O’Kane and Jim Close.

The Saffrons will compete in Division 2 of the Allianz Hurling League next year in addition to the Joe McDonagh Cup.

Peaden’s appointment was confirmed at a county board meeting on Monday night, where Ciaran McCavana replaced Collie Donnelly as the chairman.

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ON ST PATRICK’S DAY 2015, Ballyhale Shamrocks were crowned All-Ireland club champions for a record sixth time in what was Henry Shefflin’s last game at Croke Park.

Henry Shefflin during the 2015 All-Ireland club final.

Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO

That afternoon Shefflin lined out on a formidable half-forward line, flanked by TJ Reid and James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick, while his brother Paul played at wing-back.

Almost four years on, they’re 60 minutes away from a return to HQ with the King now prowling the sideline. Henry’s nephew Evan Shefflin is flying the flag for the family on the field, as are his other two nephews Brian and Eoin Cody.

In last Sunday’s Leinster final win over Ballyboden St Enda’s, there were seven survivors from the team that started the 2015 All-Ireland. That includes the three Reid brothers – TJ, Richie and Eoin – plus Michael and Colin Fennelly, Joey Holden and Conor Walsh.

“It’s hilarious. If you look at it there’s only I think seven lads off that team which is a massive turnaround,” said Colin Fennelly. “And it’s not because lads were tired, it’s because young lads are coming up and pushing for places and they’re earning the places.

“It is a big transition, we’re lucky enough that we did have the minor team coming through, we had an U21 county final that they won last year and that’s what you need. If you get six or seven players off that you’re doing amazingly, we’ve probably 10 off that, those teams. Those other lads on the bench that are pushing for places.

Evan Shefflin and Colin Fennelly celebrate Sunday’s win.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

“We’re a very small parish,” he continued. “I suppose it’s huge now with the city teams, the population they have, but Tommy Shefflin said it there in training on Friday night, ‘You can’t beat breeding’.

“And we have the breeding. You have the Shefflins, you have the Reids, you have the Fennellys, it’s all just passing through. Our fathers did exactly what we did. And we’re nearly in competition with them.

Michael Fennelly echoed that sentiment. “I was talking to the father there two weeks back and I was asking him how many Leinster titles he had,” he said. “He was saying he has three and I was trying to figure out how many I had and see how much we had all together.”

Michael Fennelly senior and junior hold eight provincial medals between them, while Ballyhale sit on top of the Leinster roll of honour with nine altogether – two ahead of nearest rivals Birr. 

Much of Shefflin’s success in his debut campaign as manager has been how he embedded the youngsters into a team backboned by serial All-Ireland winners.

“When Henry Shefflin talks to you it’s enough inspiration in itself, to see the confidence that he has in you to do the job that he wants you to do,” Colin said.

Fennelly attacks against Ballyboden on Sunday.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

“I’m sure the young lads look up to him, I still look up to him, I played with him for years but I still look up to him massively. When he speaks, you listen.” 

It wasn’t long after the final whistle went in Carlow and thoughts turned to their All-Ireland semi-final opponents next February.

I’ve been talking to lads already and they’re saying, ‘Ballygunner next’. Straight away they’re thinking about it. They’re a massive team, they’ve been knocking on the door the last few years so it will be a massive game.

“We’ll be keeping in touch over Christmas and then as soon as that is over it will be hell for leather and you’ll be looking forward to an All-Ireland semi-final which is exactly what you want.”

TJ and Richie Reid, Colin Fennelly and Joey Holden will miss a chunk of Kilkenny’s league campaign next spring as a result of their extended club run, but that’s a small price to pay for club success.

Kilkenny and Ballyhale star TJ Reid.

Source: Oisin Keniry/INPHO

“I presume it will be (like that), that’s the way it always has been,” said Fennelly. “I presume we’ll be talking to Brian (Cody). I don’t want to miss out on the league but then what a place to be, in an All-Ireland semi-final.

“I love playing with Kilkenny, I love playing the league matches because the league matches are a massive bearing coming into the championship. I don’t want to miss too much of that but I can’t complain, I’m in an All-Ireland semi-final.

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“We thought that the All-Ireland series was supposed to be all played out in one year, that’s the way it should be. But it’s just the way it is. We’re probably the ones losing out from it, that we don’t get to play with our county.

“We don’t get the league matches. It is a different transition, coming from club to county, no matter how good you are playing, it’s a transition because it’s a step up in standard straight away.”

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FOR MANY CLUBS, it can take a campaign or two before they crack the code and get a run in the province. 

On Sunday, Kevin Cassidy recalled how Gweedore ‘drank ourselves silly’ in 2006 and applied those lessons after their county title victory in Donegal this year.

The Gaeltacht club upset the odds by lifting the Ulster title, but a Mullinalaghta victory over Kilmacud Crokes this weekend would send even bigger shockwaves around the country. 

“We could plant the football and retire!” laughs Mullinalaghta centre-back Shane Mulligan.

“I know there’s a Leinster title at stake, but it still only is 60 minutes of football. Anything can happen on the day. It is sport and you see it in every sport.

“Be it rugby, boxing or whatever, the underdog always has a chance and that’s the way we’ll be approaching it on Sunday.” 

Shane Mulligan of Mullinalaghta and Ross McGowan of Kilmacud Crokes.

Source: David Fitzgerald/SPORTSFILE

When Mulligan is asked what has clicked with the team this year, he’s quick to point out they’ve been progressing steadily over the last three seasons.

“It hasn’t just been this season. It’s probably been a collective thing. It’s three years on the bounce now in the Longford senior championship. We’d have been relatively competitive in the last two years in Leinster.

St Loman’s beat us, and St Vincent’s the year previous to that. It’s just been a learning curve. It’s not just been this year that it’s turned on its head and we’ve found ourselves here.

“We’ve been working really hard over the last three years and I guess we’ve been on the road, be it in the Longford championship or the Leinster championship, we’ve been picking up pointers and we’ve been learning as we’ve been going along.

We’ve been developing individually as players and collectively as a panel. Just this year we’ve managed to get the results when we needed them and now find ourselves in a Leinster final.”

Recently appointed Cavan manager Mickey Graham is double-jobbing at the moment as he prepares for what could well be his final game in charge of the half-parish club.

Before he took over it had been 66 years since Mullinalaghta lifted the county title. He leaves them as the dominant force in Longford football.

“Mickey is a good man,” continues Mulligan. “We’ve never been as successful until Mickey came around. It’s been a great three years with him. Obviously he’s tied in with Cavan next year.

Cavan and Mullinalaghta boss Mickey Graham.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

“It’s just the fact that he spent so many years, he managed Newtownforbes before us. So he’s five or six years in Longford. I just understand his football knowledge and what he knows about Longford football and things like that.

“It’s a pity that we’re going to lose that across the border back to Cavan. But he’s a great manager and even people outside of football, the people of the parish have great time for him. He’s been welcomed with open arms.

He’s given as much to the community, we’ll forever thank him for all he’s done, the time he’s invested and the manner in which he’s done it, and the way he’s involved himself in the community even outside of football.”

They are the first Longford club to reach the provincial decider and Mulligan is full of belief his team are capable of achieving something special.

“It’s very important. It’s been well documented that we are a small rural community and things like that. There’s things like that keeps the parish together. It’s a great occasion for us to get out and meet each other. That’s a big part of the football. Outside of football, that panel of players just love spending time together.

Gary Rogers and Shane Mulligan celebrate their semi-final win.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

“The social aspect and everything like that. So it’s huge that we’re there. It’s a huge occasion and there’s a great buzz and excitement around things like that. Everyone is just delighted to be involved in a Leinster final in the middle of December. It’s something you’d never dream of and everyone is just soaking up the atmosphere and the occasion.

I think we’ll be very, very close. I think if we can get up to our performance (level), I still have a lot of belief in that panel of players. As I’ve said, they’ve been very, very competitive.

“Although they’re young, right from underage with schools and county, they’ve been very successful, we’re just trying to get that next Sunday. We can’t get hung up on other teams.

“We’ve never played Kilmacud so I can’t say, this is how it’s been before, this is how close we got and this is how it’s panned out. We’ll just be looking to try and get out game plan, and if it’s good enough on Sunday, then I think we can get across the line.”

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KERRY’S YOUNG ATTACKER star David Clifford is on course to feature for the county in next spring’s Allianz football league as he is not set to undergo a shoulder operation.

It had been reported last month that the teenager would have to go under the knife and would be sidelined for the early months of the 2019 campaign.

But the Fossa player, who enjoyed an exceptional season in his first in the senior inter-county ranks, has revealed it is not planned to have an operation to repair the injury.

“No, hopefully not now,” replied Clifford about the prospect of surgery when he spoke in Philadelphia on the 2018 PWC All-Stars tour.

“We’ll be getting back at it now for the rest of the winter. No, all good, yeah. It was a great year personally, it went well but for Kerry we did not end up where we wanted to be. It was a tough year but it was a great year too.”

His exploits for Kerry minor teams and St Brendan’s Hogan Cup sides sparked plenty of attention in the progress of Clifford as he stepped up to the senior grade in 2018.

He had plenty praise for Eamonn Fitzmaurice, who stepped down as Kerry boss after their Super 8s exit, for his role in helping him adjust.

“I will be forever thankful to Eamonn for giving me the chance. The professionalism of that man is something to behold, it is ridiculous in that every single minor little detail was covered. He was unbelievable. The Kerry players know how thankful we are to him.

“I was not going so well in the league and he stuck with me. I started in the first championship game then and that was a massive lift for me. It relieved a small bit of the pressure the fact that I was in (the team). He was unbelievable.

“I suppose it’s probably an obvious enough one but the physicality of the games (was the biggest eye-opener). You have a bit less time on the ball and when you’re getting hits they’re coming a bit faster and a bit stronger. That was the tough side of it.”

A third year student in Health and Leisure in IT Tralee, Clifford had been liked with a potential move to AFL clubs but that was an example of hype and speculation that he sought to detach himself from.

“There are loads of fellows out there, be it my friends and people in the club who would bring you back down to earth straight away if they thought you were getting too big-headed. You try and avoid the hype and that is what I tend to do.

“I come from a very strong GAA family and the big message from my father was always to stay grounded I try and not deal with a lot of that stuff. I would let my father Diarmuid deal with that kind of stuff and if he needed to talk to me and ask me about it he would, but otherwise I just try and stay away from all that.”

Having worked closely alongside Peter Keane at minor level, he is looking forward to seeing the Caherciveen native put his stamp on the senior side next year.

Clifford will be seeking to replicate the eye-catching scoring shows he produced this season. His rise has naturally drawn comparisons with another Killarney attacking star but he did not just look to emulate Dr Crokes star Colm Cooper when he was younger.

“I would have met him a few times briefly alright. I totally idolised him growing up and still do and it is more a case of trying to imitate a lot of the things he did when he played for Kerry. It is great to have idols like.

“But I suppose it is a bit of a funny one the player I would really have looked up to was Armagh’s Jamie Clarke. He is just very classy. I would have remembered certain things he would have done on the field and then I used to try and do them. He had so much stylishness in his play that I always admired it.”

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ROSS MCGOWAN WAS just 16 when Kilmacud Crokes last reigned supreme in Leinster eight years ago.

Ross McGowan represented Dublin in the O’Byrne Cup in January.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

He recalls following Kilmacud around Leinster as a supporter during their provincial campaigns of ’04, ’04, ’08 and ’10, which fuelled his desire to emulate his heroes from the south side club.

“I was part of that generation where I was following lads in the noughties where they were getting to Leinster campaigns every couple of years,” McGowan says.

“It was great to be along of those journeys and be part of it. It’s something that has propelled me into where I am now, being on those journeys and seeing the lads and how successful they were and wanting to be in that position.

(I made my senior debut) just out of minor. I’m five years on the team now and I’ve certainly felt the pain of losing a Dublin championship.

“I know how difficult it is just to get out of Dublin so myself and a lot of the other lads who were on that journey with me are well aware that these days might not come around all that often. So we’re all about just focusing and making sure we get over the next game, it’s so important.”

McGowan was in Croke Park on St Patrick’s Day in 2009, when Johnny Magee and Pat Burke lifted the Andy Merrigan Cup after they beat Crossmaglen in the All-Ireland final.

Captain Johnny Magee and Pat Burke lift the Andy Merrigan Cup in 2009.

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

These days Magee is joint-manager alongside Robbie Brennan, while 35-year-old Burke is still leading the line in attack. 

“They get really, really well,” he says of the managerial double-act. “Two completely different personalities but as a whole together they work really well.

I think that’s evident in the performances we’re getting this year. They’re managing everyone so well on the pitch and lads’ bodies because it’s been a long season for most.

“So I think they’ve done really well and everyone is really enjoying the set-up at the minute. It’s really encouraging and it’s great to have those lads there as management.”

McGowan calls Pat Burke “a huge influence” on his team-mates.

First of all he’s an incredible sharpshooter that I think some people dismiss. He’s fantastic at getting his scores but also on the pitch he’s so calm and level-headed and he reinforces that message across the rest of the lads and it calms everyone down.

“It’s great having the likes of Pat Burke and that experience to get us through the hard parts of the games where he’s able to settle the nerves. There was a point in the Portlaoise game where we was back on our own 21, turned a man over and won a free. That’s the sort of stuff that Pat brings to the team. A fantastic leader.”

Before he can dream of emulating Magee and Burke on the steps of the Hogan Stand, Longford champions Mullinalaghta must be accounted for in the provincial decider.

Shane Mulligan of Mullinalaghta with Ross McGowan of Kilmacud Crokes during the AIB Leinster GAA Club Football Finals Launch in Abbotstown.

Source: David Fitzgerald/SPORTSFILE

The build-up to the game has been predictable: David versus Goliath, giants against minnows, city slickers facing the rural village club. Kilmacud’s club membership is over ten times greater than the entire population of Mullinalaghta.

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But McGowan has been around long enough to understand that once they cross the white lines, it’s a level playing field. 

“As players we’re in our own little bubble,” he states. “We’ll always focus on analysing our own performances and making sure we get our stuff right and also treating the opposition with the respect they deserve.

Although they’re a small community they’re a strong, strong football team. They’ve won Longford the last three years and they’ve been involved in Leinster, they’ve had their experience.

“They beat Rhode by two points, 18 points as a winning margin in a semi-final is something you can’t dismiss so while there is that story of David v Goliath, we’re very aware that there’s 15 lads on the pitch at any one stage. We’re focused on the job at hand and we’re making sure we get a performance in.”

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Updated Dec 5th 2018, 5:10 PM

MARK STOKES WAS 18 when he was informed that hip surgery was his only option if he wanted to play GAA again. 

Former Tipperary minor footballer Mark Stokes.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

A dual underage star for Kilsheelan-Kilcash, Stokes played hurling and football with Tipperary from U14 to U16, and at minor level with the footballers, before his hip started to break down through overuse at the start of 2018.

The youngster was involved in several club, county and school teams, before he was eventually hampered with a hip impingement.

Stokes features alongside a number of other players in the documentary, An Taobhlíne, by Midas Productions, which airs tonight on TG4 at 9.30pm. It examines the growing problem of long-term injuries in the GAA and the mental toll they can have. 

“I was 18 and I remember the game when I realised, I have to do something about this,” Stokes tells The42.

“It was an U21 match in February. I was fairly sore in the warm-up and in the first-half it wasn’t too bad. Then I cooled down in the dressing room at half-time and could barely walk on the field in the second-half. That’s when I realised I’d to stop and do something about it.

If I played a match, the day after I’d be crippled. I’d be struggling to get up the stairs and even putting my school pants on in the morning. It was getting the better of me even off the field so something definitely had to be done about it.

“I went to a physio and she gave me rehab and stuff to do in the local gym. I did that for a month or two and then went back and tried to play and just broke down again after a match or two.

“I went back to the physio again and we tried rehab one last time. I did that for another month or so and tried to play again and it was the same result. 

“That was fairly disheartening so we went and got scans. They advised me that if I wanted to play again, surgery was the only option. We just said, ’If that’s the only way to go then it has to be done.’”

An injured Tipperary player.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

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A date was set for the youngster to go under the knife, but fortunately for him, his father suggested a trip to Santry Sports Clinic as a final roll of the dice to avoid surgery. Liam Stokes was well aware that the surgical option did not guarantee a return to full fitness and could lead to further problems down the line. 

A former dual player with the county, Liam won minor and U21 hurling All-Irelands with Tipperary in the 1980s. His career was derailed as he underwent six knee operations, while he had both groins and his thigh also operated on. He’s now in need of two knee replacements.

“A couple of weeks before the surgery my father suggested we go up to Santry (Surgery Clinic) just to tick all our boxes and go through all the options and make sure surgery is the only route,” Mark continues.

We went up there and I was a bit apprehensive because I didn’t want any more false hope after trying rehab twice already for three or four months and it going to pot every time. 

“So I went up there and they told us that they could fix it and that it’s a common enough thing in the GAA and they have fixed a good few. They said if I was willing to try eight or ten weeks of a rehab programme, the difference between that and surgery was: Do I want to be playing when I’m 18 with the surgery or do I want to be still playing when I’m 28 by doing the rehab?

“I decided that rehab was probably the best option. I said if the rehab doesn’t work I’ll be in a better place going into the surgery if I have to get it. Thank God the rehab did work and I ended up in a better place because of it.

“Looking back on it now I was blessed to have someone who’s been through all of that and knew that surgery isn’t the best option, especially at 18 to be having surgery so young. If it wasn’t for him I probably would have got the surgery. I was blessed in that way.”

Well-renowned doctors Eanna Falvey and Patrick Carton, who appears in the documentary, have issued warnings in the past about GAA players who are too quick to go under the knife for a quick-fix hip treatment instead of exploring longer-term rehabilitation methods. 

“We had read an awful lot about Dr Carton and he had been highlighting a lot of things that his average age of player has dropped in the last while,” says producer Mebd Johnstone.

“That means that people are catching it (younger) as well, it’s not normal that they would operate on people under 18 either. 

“The rehab is very intense for everybody. It’s a huge amount of time to put in just to either get your functionality back or to get back playing. It’s hard going and it’s a huge amount of dedication – that was the big thing that struck us and how much people love their sport.”

Dr Eanna Falvey from Santry Sports Clinic has warned GAA players about choosing hip surgery over longer-term rehabilitation.

Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO

Carton treated 17-year-old De La Salle hurler Evan Drohan, who undergoes his second hip operation inside 12 months during the film. 

The 16-week intensive rehab programme Stokes went down ultimately proved successful and got him back onto the field, but he found training in isolation extremely difficult.

“They said eight to ten weeks but I’d say it went onto about 14 or 16 weeks. There definitely were a lot of times where you think about giving up. It was during summer so I had a lot of time so every day it was about two or three hours work on doing exercises in the gym and straight line running.

There were days where you think, ‘If this doesn’t work like the last rehab, I’ll probably just hang up the boots and give it up.’ You’re obviously fed-up with it after eight months or so of not playing. There definitely were a lot of low points.

“When you look at the documentary I’m the only one who actually gets back playing so that probably was the best decision. I’m back training and playing now so it’s going well so far. It has been a good decision and I was really close to not making it. It was only a week before the surgery that I called it off so I’m fairly glad I did in the end.”

He faces “constant rehab” for the remainder of his playing career, but it’s a price he’s willing to play to get back onto the field.

I know it is a pain in the arse sometimes having to do a load of exercises every day but it is a lot better than having to have surgery at this age.”

He returned to play with Mary I Freshers last month and is aiming to slowly build things in 2019 before he hopes to line out with Tipperary U20s the following season.

“The first few times back you’re really apprehensive and kind of half-afraid to run on it and you’re holding back in fear that you’ll feel that pain again and you’ll get injured. So you’re holding back and still not really confident on it. It is a weird feeling because you want to just go out and sprint around but you’re also afraid to feel that pain again.

“It is just confidence and every day just building on it and doing a bit more training or playing that extra few minutes of a match to realise that the rehab has worked.

“I’m uncertain whether to just leave this year and get everything right and focus on my hip or to try and get involved with the (Tipperary) U20s this year. It’s a tough one but I think maybe this year I might just leave it to get everything perfect and right and not overdo it the first year back and end up in the same position I was.

“I’d definitely love to get back playing for Tipp as soon as I can. I’m still underage for U20 in (2020).”

An Taobhlíne airs on TG4 tonight (Wednesday) at 9.30pm

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