READY FOR BATTLE
Donard-The Glen biting at the bit
YOU instantly know when you’re speaking to people who are very close to each other, whether that’s in person or over the phone, and it can’t be denied that Donard-The Glen joint captains Conor Healy and Alan Daly are friends from way back.
We had every intention of popping up to Donard to meet the lads last Saturday but when a Bray footballer kicked the equaliser in the ladies IFC final in Baltinglass to send the game to extra-time that narrow window of opportunity was lost so it was changed to a phone call on Sunday morning to two erudite and charming men who will lead out their team to face Coolkenno in the Darcy Sands IFC final in Aughrim this Sunday.
It’s 20 years ago since DonardThe Glen crossed that deep divide between Intermediate and Senior where they competed for 12 years before making the return. Four semi-final appearances have been the height of their achievements since then but Mickey Daly’s men are back where they want to be and it’s the combination of youth and experience that has them ready to go this Sunday.
‘At the start of the year there were probably a couple of lads on different journeys. Some of the young lads, Jack Grace, Shane Daly and Brian Keogh came straight up out of Minor, and, in fairness, I don’t know what they’re feeding young lads these days, but they’re as big and strong as us at 17 years of age,’ said Conor Healy.
‘But those lads are starting out and they were here from the start (of the season) and then you had the older lads as well, Ray (Halloran), Harry (Mangan) and Ozzie, they were there as well. We said we wanted to give it a crack, we felt we had the panel. We felt that over the last two, three or four years that we didn’t do ourselves justice. That was a big thing. We felt that if we could get everyone involved, we could give it a good crack.
‘Look, the Intermediate championship, there’s very little between any of the teams you play. All of our games have been a point or two. We got Kevin Kealy back from Australia this year which was a massive addition. Kevin would have won two Minors with myself and ‘Froggy’ (Alan Daly). And in fairness to the three young lads who have been playing, and we’ve another few in Aaron Moody, Dan Furlong and Mikey Byrne, and I don’t think those lads have missed any sessions. The bit of youth gives you a bit of a push, it puts a bit of life in it. And the six boys wouldn’t be shy either so there’s plenty of joking as well.
‘So, we were motoring well, getting good numbers,’ added the Wicklow footballer.
Alan Daly says that having those numbers makes all the difference in a rural team as it increases the standard of training and drives a squad on to better things.
‘You can have all the trainers you want but if you’re only getting eight or nine lads down it’s not
worth a fiddlers,’ said the talented attacker. ‘I think having a local lad down here, it tends to get the local community involved and the lads involved as well. For a panel like ourselves, we’ve never had below 15 or 16 (at training), always good numbers, and the training has been of a very good standard and we’ve been able to get the best out of each other as well.
A local manager can bring its challenges and its positives. So far in 2020 the appointment of Mickey Daly to the role after former Kildare native Tadgh Fennis stepped down after two years has been nothing short of superb for this proud club.
‘A lot of us would have played with Mickey. He would have been heavily involved in the juvenile scene in St Nicholas. He went to Australia for a few years and then came back. He was involved with Kevin O’Brien with the Wicklow Minor team,’ said Conor.
‘Look, Mickey is absolutely top class. We are blessed to have him in our club. His level of detail, his level of attention, it really is second to none. I can’t speak highly enough of him. His trainings are thoroughly enjoyable. You have a ball in your hand I’d say close to 85 or 90 per cent of your time.
‘He’s an exceptionally good man manager. He knows what to say to me to get the gears going, he knows what to say to Alan, and then different lads. Particularly with the young lads coming up, he’s been heavily involved with them. He knows how to manage all the lads while also managing the team as a collective.
‘The level of detail he goes to both within our own game and other games, it’s brilliant, it really is top class. He has brought a level of professionalism that has been coming into the club game throughout the country in the last few years. I think Mickey has really bought into that, and Tadgh was the same last year. It’s probably that new breed of coach. They’re a lot more detailed and indebt and thought provoking,’ he added.
Alan Daly says the modern style of training suits him more so than the old school methods.
‘As corner-forward I definitely love it (Mickey’s training style). I was never one for the fitness training. With the way things are going, I remember starting out, even underage, it was laps and all that. But even staring out this year we’ve had gym programmes since October right through to now,
sprint sessions, recovery sessions. We mentioned recovery sessions to the likes of Ray and Harry a few years back and they were like, ‘what in the name of Jaysus are you on about?’
Every Intermediate championship campaign is difficult and for a while now Donard-The Glen have faced Carnew Emmets at some stage. Alan Daly says that it was a game they just managed to come through in the end.
‘We play each other every year. They are bruising encounters. We knew what to expect. We knew it was going to be a very tough match. We got off to a very good start and then we got a sucker-punch of a goal. I think after the goal we did well in the first half, Healy got us the goal and we were flying. I think Carnew got the better of us in the second half but we managed to hold on. From a personal point of view, for that last 15 minutes it was heartbreaking looking on, but we got through,’ he said.
‘They relegated us in 2012 and we’ve probably played each other every year since they came back down. You know the boys and you know the game you are going to get but the lads are pure gents off the pitch,’ added Conor Healy.
Facing them in the final is the teak-tough Coolkenno, who also defeated Carnew this year. Both Conor and Alan are expecting a tough but fair game of football where there will be very little between the sides come full-time.
‘It’s going to be the same as any other game, there’ll be very little in it. Coolkenno are a topclass team. You have the young talent there in Pauric Murray and Eoghan Dolan and a few others, and then you have the experience in Paddy Dalton, Eamonn Rossiter, Jim Cushe, Ben Jackman, ‘Ducky’ (Conor Walker) as well. A lot of them boys, they don’t just have Intermediate medals, they have Senior championship medals. You don’t lose that class. Those lads are still top class. Paddy Daltoin is one of the fittest men in the county.
‘I’d be expecting a good game of football but I’d expect a physical encounter as well. We’ve played Coolkenno a few times over the last few years and they’ve beaten us and we’ve beaten them.
‘I’d expect a hard game and not much in it at the end. I think there’ll be a few good battles, and, look, it’s great for Coolkenno to get to the final with big Don earlier in the
year. Look at the experience they have on the line. Stevie Cushe and Don beside him, the two boys, talk about distinguished playing careers.
‘We would have played under Stevie with the the under-21s (Conor and Alan) and Stevie came into the county a few years ago. He’s a top-class manager as well, an absolute gent of a man. They’ll be very well set up,’ said Conor.
‘It’s a battle between two very tight communities, an absolute battle from minute one,’ said Alan.
Getting to the final has been a wonderful thing for Donard-The Glen in terms of spirit in the community and what it is doing for all the people of the area. Conor Daly says that while it’s great for the younger people, it’s almost more important to the older generation.
‘One of the huge positives I can take out of this from a Donard-the Glen perspective and I would imagine it’s the same down the road (in Coolkenno), I think it’s fantastic for not just the young people in the community, but also for the older people in the community, particularly with the year that’s been in it.
‘The social aspect in these rural place – you go down for a pint; you have a chat and you go home. People haven’t been able to do that.
‘We’ve seen it with some of the older ‘gentlemen’ in the area, they’re like spring lambs. I’m sure it’s the same down in Coolkenno,’ he said.
‘These lads are just short of joining the training sessions. With this we’re hoping to bring the bit of positivity back to the community,’ added Alan Daly.
We ask both lads what winning this championship would mean and both make valiant attempts to answer, highlighting as they do their friendship that began and prospered both on and off the pitch in Donard since they were toddlers.
But, interestingly, Conor Daly stops short after a while and puts an end to the speculation by saying that, ‘there’s a long way to go before we win anything,’ and that there’s a ‘job to be done’ come Sunday afternoon.
Romance is grand at one level, but these lads realise the job of work that lies before them. They want this badly. Donard-The Glen wants this badly. But first they have to win it. Everything else will take care of itself after tht.