*Clare selector, Declan Downes. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
LEGACY. Kerry may have the tradition of the two counties competing in Sunday’s Munster final but there’s a rich legacy among the personnel involved with the Clare cause.
Look no further than Clare selector Declan Downes. His father Tom who died in June 2016 was one of the central figures in fighting to keep an open draw in the Munster football championship, he was the first secretary of the Clare County Board and was liaison officer with the county senior footballers for decades including when they defeated Kerry in the 1992 Munster final.
Known and respected by football folk all over the country, Tom was an officer and provincial level for many years, he was honoured by the GAA at the 2010 Congress at Slieve Donard Hotel, Co. Down after he stepped down from his position within Ard Comhairle, a role he had for close to thirty years.
Tom’s involvement and link to the present day through his son Declan was referenced by Ger Keane in a recent column for The Clare Echo. Declan admitted that the love of the game was certainly fuelled by his father. “I was indoctrinated with football from a young age because of his involvement, he was hugely involved with the senior team and with Clare GAA, a lot of people over the years put a massive amount of time into it before they finally made the breakthrough in 1992, it was driven by people who kept the flag flying through many years, pushed the open draw side of it and always believed that there was potential in Clare to make that breakthrough and that it was about getting a group to buy in and believe what the manager or whoever it was at the time, John Maughan in this case to come together with a really good team, their league form was taken into championship and that is something we’ve been striving to achieve here.
“It’s a big day, I remember being in there myself back in 1992 as a fan and feeling close to the team because of his involvement and it’s an honour to be involved with a Clare football team especially this group of people, they are a tremendous group of people from Jim Marrinan in the backroom team to Colm as manager and the great group of players”.
Sunday will be the barometer as to what level Clare are at, the Kilmihil man noted. “It is exactly where you want to be at this stage of the year in the final of a competition against one of the leading contenders and measuring yourself against that, we’ve a lot of work put into it, it has been an aspiration of this group over the last few years to get there and it’s a big challenge alright but why not us”.
On the long journey home from Derry after Clare were relegated from Division 2 of the Allianz National Football League, not many people would be predicting they would defeat Cork in championship for the first time since 1997 and back it up by overcoming Limerick to reach a first Munster final since 2012.
Downes reflected, “There’s an old adage about winning or learn, with the management and the group of players we always feel that if we put in the work and look to raise the standard week to week that we could get to where we are, whether that was by taking it step by step and getting over the Cork game, then it was a big challenge to get ready for the Limerick game again and winning that semi-final, Limerick came with a big challenge which we expected but we got through it. It was disappointing coming down from Derry but within the group there is great belief in the ability we have, it was about refocusing at the end of the league and we knew we were in knockout football from there on”.
Of the key learnings from this year, he is adamant that attacking games right to the finish was an area they had to improve on. “The Kildare game, we probably sat back a bit towards the end of the game and didn’t see it out in an attacking sense because you have to attack a lead, the Dublin game I think we learned we had to be a bit more secure in the ball on that particular day cost us in terms of turnovers and giving primary possession which allowed them to attack us. In hindsight, it built up a resilience within the group that we learned from those two results and when it came down the home straight in the two Munster championship games it showed in the end that we had taken learnings in how we saw out the Cork game and how we weathered the storm against Limerick and attacked the game to the finish”.
Now in his eighth year as selector, Declan is continuing the family link with the county senior football side. “There’s a view that Colm is the longest serving manager in the country so I must be the longest suffering selector in the country at this stage! It’s the love of the game, where would you rather be, you get an opportunity with a great bunch of guys, if you can help them in any small way to improve and achieve and realise their potential then why wouldn’t you be involved. It’s not work, it’s my passion and I’m only glad to be involved in a small bit and helping in any way I can”.
For games, his vantage points can vary from being at the back of the stand in Cusack Park to the box alongside the stats and video analysis team to closer to the substitutes. “It’s safer to keep me away from the sideline,” he quipped. “I keep myself up in the stand alright, we’re in communication with the sideline, it’s giving us different perspectives on the game, you’ve Colm prowling the sideline with Brian and Enda behind him, myself, Joe and Mark will take different vantage points up in the stand to get an overall view of it, we’re in constant communication”.
As they train on Sunday morning in Cusack Park, members of the Clare U20 football panel have joined the senior squad to beef up numbers for an internal game. He feels their ability to slot in is a positive indicator on the state of football in the county. “It is in a healthy place, the senior guys that are there they are role models and a great example to the young lads around the county, it’s brilliant to see after the Cork and Limerick games the amount of young kids looking for the autographs and the pictures, that is what these guys want to do, they want to leave a legacy for the groups coming after them, there was a great strong performance by the U20 team down in Kerry especially when you see what they did in the final, we have a few of them in here and it’s been Colm’s mantra since he’s been involved, I’m with him eight years now and it’s always been the case that we will take some of the guys in, look to develop them, give them a taste for it and see if it is for them, obviously it is a big ask and a big demand on people’s time, it might not be for everyone but we give them the opportunity to come in and see if they are capable of raising the standard and helping the group”.
What has gone before between Clare and Kerry is irrelevant for what will be their first provincial final meeting since 2000. “The past is the past, the game on Sunday has never been played before, we have to attack it and be fearless, why not us. The past is the past, this is a new bunch of players, they haven’t been in a Munster final since 2012, they haven’t played Kerry in a Munster final since 2000, no one here has baggage in regards to a Munster final or Kerry in it, it is a one off shot and we get to measure ourselves on the day. It’s a performance, if we can get a really big performance out of these guys, then the result will take care of itself in the end”.
“Why not have a go at them and attack the game. You will have your game plan around it and how we set up but we have to attack the game, see it for the opportunity it is, there’s a Munster title to be won on the day, we’ll worry about the group stages after that, it’s a one off day and where else would you rather be than on a Sunday in May going down to the Gaelic Grounds and playing a game for a championship title at the end of it”.
Win, lose or draw, the Downes legacy will continue to be remembered in the Banner County.
