Dream come true for Jamie
DAVY Fitz and Co. may be wistfully watching the All-Ireland semi-finals from afar this weekend, but Wexford may yet have a Championship winner at Croke Park this winter.
It won’t be the Liam McCarthy Cup Jamie McDonnell gets his hands on at HQ, but COVID-19 restrictions permitting, he’ll celebrate as if it is!
The Reds centre back may hail from a hurling stronghold, but he hasn’t yet graced the hallowed turf on the Jones Road.
That in itself will be a dream come true.
‘Young lads growing up all dream of playing in Croke Park and I was no different, so I’m really looking forward to getting out there. I’m kind of expecting a really good ground and hopefully it won’t disappoint.’
The Faythe Harriers clubman has been steeped in the GAA from a young age, playing both football and hurling and that was the reason he joined St Fechin’s upon moving north to Drogheda three years ago.
‘I’m from Wexford town originally so I think there’s five clubs in Wexford town alone, in hurling and football. So GAA has a big presence down there and I was no different. From a young age I got into it straightaway and love it, hurling and football, but hurling was always close to my heart, I suppose.
‘I enjoy the football as well, I play football for St Fechin’s but growing up I was always more of a hurler coming from Wexford originally.
‘But being a dual player was one of the main reasons I chose to join St Fechin’s because they had the hurling and the football. So that made my decision a little bit easier when I was first moving up here.’
The Ballymakenny teacher is in his second season on the Louth panel so he knows nothing of the pain of those four Nicky Rackard Cup final defeats suffered in 2005, ‘08, ‘11 and ‘12.
However, he has been on the receiving end in the last few Louth SHC finals and now desperately wants to end this surrealist of seasons on a high.
He also wants to exact a bit of revenge on Fermanagh, who have sickened Louth with two smashand-grab raids this term.
‘I think a lot of people had us as hot favourites, but Fermanagh are a good side as well. They came down to Darver a few weeks ago and proved that, beating us by a point in the end. We want to get our own back on them now in the final so hopefully we can go out and win.
‘They’re a good side. They’ve quick lads inside and they love to open up. They pull a lot of players out to midfield and kind of leave a lot of space inside. I’d especially have to be aware of that at centerback, not to give them too much space because they can they can definitely do damage in there - goals and points.
‘I think they caught us off guard a little bit as well. Without sounding too bad I think we nearly thought we had to just show up and win the game. Like I said they’re a good side, they came down and proved us wrong, but we’ve prepared now for the next day and ready to go.’
That Fermanagh defeat left Louth in a win-or-bust scenario against Cavan in round two, when even a draw would have eliminated the Reds and McDonnell feels the win in Breffni will stand to them on Sunday.
‘The defeat kind of put us under pressure in the Cavan game, but thankfully we were able to deliver the goods there and earn the chance to get back at Fermanagh.
‘It showed great character, especially after going down to 14. I think we’ve been known to finish badly in a couple of games previous so it was brilliant to show that resolve and grind out the win.’
Being so far from home it has been a challenging year for Jamie, but after the initial lockdown hurling and football have certainly kept him busy.
‘Back a couple of months ago no one really knew what the story was. You do miss the hurling and the football but luckily enough I have two young lads in the house with me and we kind of kept each other going, doing a bit of gym work and running and stuff like that, but it’s always nice to be back on the pitch and playing and training, that’s why we do this stuff to play in finals.
‘I’ve been in the panel now for two years now and I have to say the setup has been absolutely brilliant. I’ve enjoyed every second of it, the training and the matches. The lads have been excellent welcoming me in as if I was nearly one of their own. So to get a bit of silverware now at the end of the this year would be brilliant. With the uncertainty of 2020 it would be a nice way to finish the year.’