THE LONG TREK TO BECOMING CORK’S NO. 1
Doubts nagged at Nash as a rookie, now he’s...
ANTHONY NASH splits his Cork career into two. His first debut. And his second debut. He needs to do that because his life as the Rebel custodian got off to a rough start.
‘My first debut didn’t go so well,’ the Kanturk native recalls with a wince. It was 10 years ago this weekend, but the memory remains painful. As they will do this afternoon, Cork and Waterford clashed in a Munster semi-final. Dónal Óg Cusack had been involved in a flashpoint with Clare in the previous round and got himself suspended.
By the Thursday night, when all avenues for an appeal were exhausted, Nash discovered he would play his first Championship game in only his second year on the panel. The glittering Waterford attack of the noughties were at their peak and arrived in Thurles hungry for goals. By the end, they had put five past the inexperienced Cork keeper.
‘It was a huge experience for me because the pace of the game was something I had never experienced before. I had just played with Cork Under 21s and the intermediates for a season. The speed of it, it was like going into a Formula 1 race.
‘And that Waterford forward line were awesome. I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I was young, only 23. When you are going in to make your debut, you are hoping to make a couple of saves and a clean sheet. It didn’t turn out like that but it is an experience I wouldn’t take back.
‘I would have loved to keep a clean sheet on my debut but that day is something I will always cherish because the only thing I ever wanted to do is play with Cork. At the moment, I am lucky enough to be the number one but things can change in an instant and the one thing I always say is you can never take that jersey for granted after the experience I had. That’s the one thing I took from being a sub.’
Nash’s second debut, as he terms it, didn’t come until 2012, when they faced Tipperary in the Championship. A gap of five years between his first and second summer outing. It’s a pretty unusual situation. ‘I needed the break,’ he chuckles. Having served as an understudy for so long, Nash’s transition to number one was seamless. Cork barely missed Cusack as Nash collected All-Stars in his first two seasons. Within a few months, he had established himself as one of the top goalkeepers in the country.
‘2012 was a whirlwind year for me, because it was my first as firstchoice. And to go from being sub the year before to All-Star goalkeeper was fantastic.’
HE paid his dues, though. For six seasons, he was the understudy. Number 16 in the squad. He was given the odd National League game but knew any opportunity to dislodge Cusack would be rare. Nash points to the support of family and friends that enabled him to keep faith.
‘What kept me going? First of all, I am very lucky in that I have a very strong family and friends in the local community. Were there times I questioned it? Of course, absolutely. For a lot of that time, I was third-choice behind Dónal Óg and Martin Coleman. I learnt an awful lot from those two lads. The professionalism of their training. How you held yourself on and off the field.
‘Why did I stay there? Because I was involved in a very professional set-up and I felt my hurling was improving. Of course it was difficult at times. Did I ever think I was never going to make the break-through? Continuously. I had offers to go to America in different summers that a lot of my friends took up. Goalkeeping is strange. If I was corner-forward there’s a fair chance you would get an opportunity somewhere in the attack, but in goalkeeping, you have to wait for the chance,’
Goalkeeping is in the family – his cousin Albert Shanahan was a netminder for Limerick. And Nash simply loves the position, although he does admit you have to be different to stand in goals.
‘I love it, love the pressure that if you make a mistake, it is in the back of the net. You try and do the simple things well. Am I going to make a mistake before the end of my career? One hundred per cent. I know I will. I might hit a puck-out to the wrong fella. That’s the way the game goes.
‘Maybe, you have to be a bit cracked to be a goalkeeper. You certainly have a different outlook on things. A goalkeeper is hoping that a sliotar will hit off him, that is crazy enough when you think about it. You definitely need a different focus as a keeper.
‘Out the field, you are constantly moving but in goals, you are thinking a lot more, so you have to have a different focus. I come out of games, mentally drained rather than physically drained. Just because I am concentrating. My body is fine, the lads are coming off the field with lumps and bumps, and I am just mentally drained.’ Nash’s career has come full circle. Among the North Cork based players that travel together to training, the goalkeeper is now the grandfather, after being the baby of the group for years.
So he has carried the scars of the criticism that Cork have received in recent years and it may be why Nash was the most animated figure in Semple Stadium after Cork delivered a landmark display against Tipp last month but he insists it will mean nothing if Cork don’t back it up against Waterford this afternoon.
‘The one thing about the last day, we won a game, that’s it. Just a game. I would love if a trophy was handed out at the end of it but there wasn’t. It was an excellent performance, our defence hurled very well. The fullback line is a horrible place to play these days because the attacking talent in hurling is frightening.’
And that is why this afternoon will take so much out of Nash. But he won’t mind, it’s where he always wanted to be. And it has been quite the journey to get there. Ten years on from his harrowing debut, Nash will be the most assured figure in Semple Stadium this afternoon.
Maybe you do have to be cracked to be a keeper, you definitely need focus