Social media swipes won’t make me apologise for my TV work
IT WAS another big week for Offaly GAA and for Shane Lowry with the Irish Open going ahead while he also gears up to defend the British Open which is on the horizon. In typical Shane fashion, he rang me last Monday week, from Heathrow, where he was stopping off on his way back to Ireland.
He wanted to go to a training session when he got home, just to show his face. I mentioned the minors being in Leinster finals.
‘If you think I could help, I’ll be there,’ he said. So he met with the two 2020 minor squads – football and hurling – that appeared in finals during the week.
I won’t divulge exactly what he said but he was so good with the lads, standing in for a few pictures with them and exuding positivity.
The Faithful Fields comes in for a lot of credit and it’s a fantastic training facility. Only recently I’ve been talking to people from Clare and Waterford who had been up to challenge matches and were suitably impressed.
It is a huge boost to Offaly GAA to have such an impressive set-up. It was topped off to have Shane there with the place looking brilliant, on a beautiful day.
Shane spoke about being from Offaly and how important that is to him. By the time he finished his speech, I wanted to go to my car and fetch a pair of boots!
He has that knack of hitting the right note. It’s another little step on the journey for these young players, outside of the results themselves in those deciders.
We called it a partnership when he got involved – that’s what it really is. He’s driving it and is so passionate. We all saw the picture from the Offaly-Louth Leinster SFC tie in Navan last Sunday when he got up out of his seat to roar the team on after we registered an important score. That’s him.
There’s a lot of mundane training and activity around the games – most around achieving excellence. It does add a lovely bit of colour and excitement to have someone like Shane around and attached to it all. He is someone who knows what it takes to get to the top.
We got the two promotions this year at senior level in the National League with the hurlers returning to Division 1 and the footballers going up to Division 2. It’s great to feel so much positivity about the place, particularly when you see the minors back challenging for titles on both fronts.
IWASN’T at Páirc Tailteann for the footballers’ win over Louth as I was in the commentary box in Thurles for RTÉ for the Munster SHC opener between Clare and Waterford. I have to say I was surprised to see my absence from Navan attract a few negative comments on social media.
As Offaly chair, I would love to be at all the county’s matches. Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve been putting in a fair effort since taking on the position. It’s a voluntary role – but nearly full-time at the same time.
I knew coming in that there might be clashes, but this year’s fixtures calendar is so condensed it’s impossible to be in two places at once.
I’ve a business to run as well. I’m leaning on my partner quite a bit as it is and I have to be careful my own work doesn’t suffer. I’m contracted by RTÉ to do co-commentary on the matches, so it’s a simple enough decision to make.
I have a mortgage and family to look after at the end of the day.
I can’t do much for the players – their work is done.
I’ve been surprised to see people use it as a way of having a dig.
I make no apologies for the enjoyment I get from my commentary work and I would hate to have to pack that in. Especially as it has been such a part of my life for so many years.
In the paper last week, I talked up Clare playing with that Brian Lohan spirit against Waterford – I felt they would come up with a big performance.
And they did.
It was tactically very astute to put Tony Kelly in the inside line – Waterford lost a lot in one sense by having Calum Lyons go back and man-mark him.
I’ve talked about the high scoring and that idea of actually marking your men. The two Clare cornerbacks – Paul Flanagan and Rory Hayes – did just that. They were both on their men, hip-to-hip, all the time. And then there were two or three Clare men around the breaking ball.
They hit 14 wides in the first half and still led by nine – the game should really have been over. Their decision-making just needs to improve. There was an almost childish enthusiasm in their desire to take on the shot rather than play a simple handpass and set up a teammate in a better position.
While the hurling left a little bit to be desired at times, there has been hurt in the county over the course of what has been a turbulent year, so it was an important victory.
Clare have a short turnaround but as a player, I’d like the extra match. John Conlon was a bit of an injury scare late on but I was talking to him afterwards. That enthusiasm in the way he played at centre-back was inspiring – and his ball-playing ability helped create numerous attacks.
WE DON’T know really about Tipperary’s true form. With the height of respect to some of the great players, they are getting on in years. Some of the young players from the Under 21 and U20 All-Ireland winning teams looked so good in winning those finals but they haven’t come through fully though. They haven’t established themselves.
I’ve been saying that these young players really need to step up now for the past three years. Jake Morris, Paddy Cadell, Willie Connors have all been there and done well in parts. Brian McGrath, the younger brother of Noel and John, is another. If Tipp are going to be successful, two or three need to play themselves into the team.
Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher is gone, Seamus Callanan has been struggling a bit with a back injury during the League, and the likes of Paudie and Brendan Maher have been exceptional down the years. But the older brigade can’t keep it going forever.
The surprise element is gone if Clare again look to play Kelly in the full-forward line. Cathal Barrett will love that. Kelly is so flexible, he can come out around midfield. The first two points he scored in the Waterford game were excellent. For the first one, he trapped it, caught it, and put it over the bar running at full speed away from the goal with Lyons on his tail. He put the second one over from the sideline under equal pressure.
Aron Shanagher could have had two or three goals another day and he is a strong and powerful presence inside. Aidan McCarthy, too, is really blossoming.
Tipperary though have so much experience, and their own young players have serious pedigree.
Tipp have the ability to win it by four or five.