One slip was all he needed
IT was Rathnew legend Joe Ronan who would break Kilcoole hearts in the Wicklow Cup final of 1993 when he got on the end of a corner in the first half to fire home past Michael Campbell for the only goal of the game.
Ronan had signed for Glenview that season due to him residing in Shankill and while offers of Leinster Senior League football with Valeview had surfaced it was an opportunity to play with Glenview that appealed to him most and when Sean Stephens and Terry Day arrived at his door with an invitation he took it with both hands.
‘I was living in Shankill in Dublin and I was building a house down in Ashford, I had bought a site down there. A guy from Valeview came to look for me to sign, and Sean Stephens and Terry Day arrived at my door to get me to sign for Glenview, because I wasn’t going to travel up and down from Shankill to Rathnew – I had won everything with Rathnew – so I said I’d just go to Glenview,’ said Joe Ronan.
‘I never thought I would but I signed for Glenview, and when I signed, Terry Day, they’d never won the Wicklow Cup up there, they lost out, we’d beaten them the year before that and I had got the winner, and I played with Wicklow Rovers the year before that and we beat Glenview so I think I owned them one.
‘I said to Terry Day when I signed, ‘I’ll try and win the Wicklow Cup for ye because you’ve been beaten in the last few years and I’ve been the blame for both of those,’ he joked.
Joe’s memories of the big game and, indeed, the entire campaign are very clear. The final for Joe was a tough afternoon given the quality of the marking job done by Kilcoole’s Pat ‘Boxer’ Doyle but all the Joe needed was one chance. And that’s exactly what he got.
‘Now, I have to be honest, ‘Boxer’ was marking me, a lad called ‘Boxer’ Doyle, and ‘Boxer’ really kept me quiet that day,’ recalls Joe. ‘But a ball came across from a corner and I scored and that was the only chance that ‘Boxer’ gave me. He left me for one minute and I scored. He didn’t mark me off a corner,’ he said.
Joe Ronan was a hugely successful soccer and Gaelic football player in Wicklow. He featured on Wicklow county teams alongside the likes of Kevin O’Brien and has an incredible nine Wicklow Cup medals to his name while also suffering two final defeats.
‘I played my first senior game with St. Earnan’s when I was 17. We got to the Wicklow Cup final against Celtic (Rathnew) and we got bet 2-1.
‘To be honest, there were some great players around then. Wicklow Rovers had some great players, Rathnew had some great players, ‘Jacko’ (Alan Newsome) was outstanding. ‘Jacko’ would be a legend. ‘Sting’ would be in the middle and ‘Jacko’ would be striker.
‘I would nine Wicklow Cups overall and lost two (with St. Earnan’s, against Rathnew Celtic).’
Joe enjoyed his year with Glenview immensely and having scuppered their cup final hopes on two occasions he took great pleasure in being able to grab the winner.
‘Kilcoole got to the final, I think it was their first final in years. There was a massive crowd. Glenview had had two losses. We (Rathnew) beat them in 1990. Brian McEvoy had signed with them. Sean Temple, I was at his funeral this year. I went up to the funeral and met Sean Stephens and all the boys there.
‘But Sean Temple made two point-blank saves from me that day. A lad called Con Martin was the man giving out the award and he shouldn’t have given it to me that day. They were the best saves I ever seen from a goalkeeper I’ve ever experienced. I went over to Sean and told him that he should have got that award that day. That was the draw. We beat them in the replay. I got one and ‘Jacko’ got the other. It was 2-1. Dave Egan scored for them. Then I signed for them and we had a couple of tricky games away but I think I scored in every round of the Wicklow Cup that year. I had a really good run with Glenview.
‘That Glenview side were good that year. I don’t think the lads could believe that I would leave Rathnew and go and play with Glenview but I was living up there and I was going to go and play in the higher leagues with Valeview. All the lads (Glenview) were asking me to go down and play and I said I’d go and play for them for the year and the only game I was disappointed with myself in was the Wicklow Cup final but ‘Boxer’ did a great job, but he gave me one chance.
‘I enjoyed Glenview I have to say but obviously I’m a Rathnew lad. I promised Terry Day that I’d try and win the cup for them and it worked out that I did. Terry was following them (Glenview) for years.
‘We celebrated the following Monday in a place called Doyle’s on the Main Street in Bray and it was great. I have to say they were great lads,’ he said.
Joe must reflect on his football career with huge pride. He says that he does but his first thoughts are to mention players with whom he played with and against, including his best friend who he says was the best footballer he ever seen in Wicklow League.
‘Ah, I do, yeah (look back with a sense of pride). When you play in 11 cup finals and I won a heap of leagues and cups with Rathnew as well. I would like a special mention for ‘Jacko’ and ‘Sting’. ‘Sting’ Kavanagh is my number one, the best player I ever seen. Then you had ‘Jacko’ and Anthony Franey, special players. Anthony Mernagh, brilliant player. There’s another good chap there as well, Chris ‘Nipper’ Sillery – wouldn’t do a whole lot of work but always good a goal or two. There are a couple of great players going back; Paul McDonald was very good, Christopher Duffy, they were top lads,’ he added.