Experience beyond Jack’s wildest dream

KEY player and county star Jack Barry had a different kind of preparation for last week’s All-Ireland Club JFC semi-final with Kilmaine than any of his Na Gaeil colleagues.

The Kerry midfielder had picked up an ankle ligament injury during a pre-Christmas challenge match against Templenoe, and it was always going to be a race against time to get rehabilitated so he would be in a position to line out against the Connacht champions.

In the end, Barry had to make do with starting the game on the bench and, while he was eventually introduced in the 18th minute of the second half by the Na Gaeil management, it certainly was never the plan to have to go through two periods of extra-time.

Yet that’s what the star midfielder had to do and, after managing to survive 43 minutes of pulsating activity against a side that were as equally ravenous for a place in Croke Park as Na Gaeil, Barry must have been quietly satisfied when the final whistle sounded at Cusack Park in Ennis.

“We were having a great battle with Templenoe on the day in Fitzgerald Stadium. It was a great work-out for both of us but, in the second half, I twisted my ankle going up for a kick-out and I knew straight away that something wasn’t right and I couldn’t run it off,” he explained. “Immediately, I was worrying about the semi-final, and going to Thailand with the Kerry team probably wasn’t the best thing to do! The only good thing was the saltwater in the beaches over there that I was able to dip it into!

“Against Kilmaine, really you are just itching to get on and trying to influence the game when you see that your team is in trouble. I knew that I was never going to be able to play the full game and that ten or fifteen minutes would be the most I could do. That ended up being a bit more obviously when it went to extra-time, but these are the things that happen when you are trying to go all the way.”

Na Gaeil had suffered several near misses in the county junior championship in recent years, none more so than the 2018 heart-breaking final reversal to Beaufort by the minimum of margins, but Barry believes that all those setbacks just focused his team even further to keep fighting to climb the mountain.

“We set our stall out at the start of the year to make sure we would get over the line this time in winning the Premier Junior in Kerry once and for all. We stumbled the three years before it in losing to Glenbeigh/ Glencar, Firies and Beaufort, so we just wanted to win it, above anything else that might follow.

“Our more senior players in the team would have been big on us having a more winning mentality, but we learned the hard way that it was not an easy competition to win.”

A full season in the top flight of the county league, even if it ended in relegation, also steeled Na Gaeil for the highest calibre of opposition that they would encounter on their odyssey that reaches its destination at Croke Park on Saturday afternoon.

“Without a doubt. Everyone that reaches there wants to test themselves against the best. It was a bonus really because we had reached Division Two for the first time in 2018 and only really wanted to hold our own there. Even though it was tough, and we didn’t come out the right side of a lot of the games, we were learning all the time from those matches.”

As Na Gaeil now prepare for Rathgarogue/Cushinstown, the Kerry midfielder is thrilled to be living the dream of playing with his brothers, friends and teammates on the most hallowed of GAA surfaces in the country.

“I am massively happy, it’s something beyond your wildest dreams in one way. It’s a unique experience because not many inter-county players get to experience it with their own clubs, especially when your brothers and friends you played with up the age grades with you are there as well,” added the midfield dynamo.

“It’s something you want to try and enjoy while you can. The club has a lot of young players coming through, so it is a great benchmark for us to set for them into the future in reaching Croke Park like we have.”