*Dylan McMahon. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
While Sunday will be his first experience of a senior championship decider, Dylan McMahon has played for Clonlara on county final day before.
Back in 2018 when Ballyea ambushed Cratloe coming down the final straight, he helped Clonlara to secure a first ever Minor A crown at the expense of Clarecastle.
Five years on and not only has McMahon progressed to being an influential member of Clonlara’s senior side but is surrounded by the minor class of 2018 including captain Jathan McMahon, Aidan Moriarty, Colm O’Meara and Logan Ryan. “I think we’ve five players that are actually starting on the senior team now that were on that 2018 Minor team and another four or five on the bench so it’s a great sign really. It’s brilliant for the club too because there was a lot of talk that our minor team would be filtered into the senior team to bring on the next generation but without realising it until this year, that has actually happened.
“It’s great to play alongside the experience of John [Conlon] and Colm and Ian [Galvin], the O’Loughlins [Micheál and Paraic] and David Fitzgerald”.
That almost seamless assimilation has accelerated Clon’s progress to a first senior final since 2016 under the tutelage of 2008 winner Donal Madden whom Dylan feels has been the glue that has moulded this new-look force.
“You hear Madden consistently speak about the culture of the club but personally I don’t think the management get enough credit. Madden has often said that no one is bigger than anyone in the playing or management set-up. And I can see that now because the work-rate that the management put in outside of training is just as important and time-consuming than anything we so in the training field or match day so it’s all feeds into each other and makes this such a great place to be at the moment.
“More than that though, what Donal Madden actually does for the club in general is phenomenal. I mean my brother plays for the Under 13’s and I’d go down and watch their training sometimes and Madden is there helping out. He’s at the field 24/7, there’s no getting him out,” he jokes. Seriously though, he definitely doesn’t get enough credit but it’s that bond that he has set in place.
“You heard John [Conlon] saying after one match about us all swimming in the River Shannon after training, that’s true although we’re trying to taking it handy this week in case we get sick. It’s those little things though. We all go to breakfast together, at training a few weeks ago we all chipped in and got food from Lidl and had our own health breakfast. So it’s all those little things that have played a big part in how we’ve developed this year as a team”.
Also central to this team’s evolution were the three-in-a-row of Senior B crowns that weren’t considered building blocks outside of Clonlara but certainly were key spokes in their development wheel to get back to contesting an A final.
“The Senior B was used as a stick to beat us with but we just got on with it and after winning the third one in a row last year, we just said that wanted to try and progress now and try to make a quarter-final. And now to see the buzz and excitement that this team have generated is crazy. This is my first year experiencing anything like this but just to see all the kids singing and celebrating after the semi-final was just so great. So it’s a lot to take in at the moment but at the same time, it’s the best feeling ever”.
Having played in front of a near capacity Cusack Park for the Clare minors against Limerick in 2017, McMahon is looking forward to Sunday’s first senior final, with confidence high after their five match winning record thus far to get to this lofty stage.
“We have a lot of players in their first final but we’re not all young fellas and there is plenty experience there too from previous finals. I mean John [Conlon] is definitely feeling a lot younger with all the new players on the team anyway,” he quips.
“But even using John as an example, the buzz coming off him, you can just see that he is loving every minute of this and with the release of being put back up in the forwards, he has been on fire. He’s such a class player and the difference he makes is unbelievable. I mean we were doing okay in the Clare Cup but when John and Ian came back in, training has been lifted another few notches ever since”.
Having represented Clare at minor and Under 20 levels, McMahon is now Clonlara’s defensive anchor which is a dream come true for the stylish centre-back. “I remember being a young fella and looking at the senior team and the great hurlers that Clonlara had. We longed to play with them some day and now it has happened that you’re not only togging out beside them but this year, I’m now trying to supply them with ball. It’s just the best feeling ever, especially preparing for a senior final now as it’s there to be won.
“Don’t get me wrong, Crusheen are a great side and will be the toughest team we’re going to face but it can go either way on the day so hopefully it can go our way. Everyone’s just on the same wavelength at the moment. I honestly think that we would die for each other on the field and that is what’s getting us through these big games in the last few minutes, that do-or-die attitude”.
There are clearly no scars of past final and semi-final heartbreak that have dogged previous Clonlara teams. McMahon is the poster boy of a new carefree generation of players that aren’t getting preoccupied by winning at all costs.
“Look, it would be great to win on Sunday but personally I feel that the club has won something by even getting this far. You see the support we have been given over the last few weeks, I mean the amount of kids that are so excited and thrilled to be cheering on the team is almost madness. I remember back to a time that I was like that and would have done anything just to be a water boy at training and that buzz is clearly instilled in these kids too or ‘ultras’ as they call themselves.
“So I just think that we’ve already won but it would be a major bonus if we were to win the final on Sunday. Hopefully we can do it as I just don’t want this feeling to end so if there was the possibility of keeping this going and having another game, it would be brilliant”.
