*Emmet McMahon. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
SUNDAY’S middle third is going to be “a warzone” when Clare and Cork collide in Cusack Park for the Munster SFC quarter-final, Emmet McMahon predicted.
Although he was midfield in Clare’s final round league win over Limerick, McMahon is likely to be given refuge from the war by taking a spot in the full-forward line where his kicking and scoring ability from range will be called upon.
Speaking to The Clare Echo while looking out onto the field of Cusack Park, Emmet remarked, “It is going to be a warzone out there, they have some really big men in Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan at the middle of the field, real big powerful men, it’s going to be a massive warzone in that middle eight next week, hopefully we can get on top of them, if we win the battle in the middle eight we’ll have a really good chance of getting a result”.
Losing to Cork by eight points at the beginning of March has made the Clare camp determined to set the record straight. “We played Cork a couple of weeks back and it didn’t go to plan, we’re really looking forward to it, the league is over and is history, we’re building every day and at every training session”.
He added, “They are a really good side in fairness to them, they are a really good running team. Hopefully we can get a nice run around Cusack Park on Easter Sunday, you’d never know what can happen, we’re trying to improve every day, we’re training hard, we’re aware of Cork’s strengths and some of their weaknesses, we’ll try nullify the strengths and go after the weaknesses”.
During the League, he operated at midfield and in attack but getting on the field is the focus rather than having a preference for a position. “You can impose your game in a lot of them positions similarly but I don’t really have a preference, wherever that particular coach or manager asks me to play then I’ll try my best to play there”.
Overall reflections of this year’s league are disappointing, the twenty two year old said. “The league is history and it’s done, we’re currently in Division 3 but that is for next year, now we’re just focused on Cork, all that matters in our minds is Cork at home in Cusack Park”.
Approaching the end of his time at the University of Limerick where he is almost qualified as a PE and Maths teacher, he will be applying for posts in secondary schools over the next month.
His time in UL proved invaluable to his development as a footballer, this year he captained the Sigerson Cup team while the year previous a certain David Clifford was among his teammates in the forward line. “When I first came on it there was a big step up from club senior standard and underage county minor and U20 straight to senior so to get that bit of exposure is an unbelievable quality, Sigerson has some of the top level inter-county players so being exposed to that level day in day out, it’s not only me that has benefitted from it but loads of our lads, I couldn’t speak highly enough of it to have it as a building block to help with senior inter-county”.
Serving as ‘a shop window’ for senior inter-county level, Emmet believed the Sigerson Cup remained a vital tool in the development of county footballers. “It is a brilliant stepping stone really from your first few years in club senior and your last years of county minor, U20 to get that stepping stone and exposure with lads your own age on inter-county teams, they are young, fit, fast, there’s brilliant enjoyment to it, overall it is a great experience, I wouldn’t be playing half as well these days if I didn’t have it”.
Captaining UL was another experience he became accustomed to. “It was the first shift this year in the sense that I not only had to look after my own game but also had to make sure all my teammates and everyone included in the setup were working well as a unit. It’s a little bit heavier on the shoulders but I really enjoyed it and embraced it, it can help your own game when you know you’re helping out your teammates and I really enjoyed that, we had a really good run of it, it’s a pity we didn’t get over the line but that’s sport and we’ll just go again with Clare”.
A member of the senior panel for four years, McMahon’s ability to score from distance has this year seen him nail down a starting spot. Many hours down in his local field in Kildsyart saw him hone his technique. “It’s been countless hours down there, it’s all practice, the old saying of practice makes perfect doesn’t expire in any other form. Growing up I was always a forward, shooting is the most enjoyable aspect of being a forward, other aspects aren’t as enjoyable. Once you can get as much practice as you can, there was a lot of work off the wall before I got near the goals, any young lad should be out practicing off a wall with their brother or sister, it will all pay off”.
When putting in all the hours, it was working towards the goal of playing for Clare at senior level. “I wouldn’t tell the players this but when I was younger around 15 or 16, you’d really be looking up to these lads as celebrities, now they’re your teammates, your friends and your brothers on the pitch. It has always been the goal but also to succeed with Clare football not to just stay at whatever level you’re in, you want do the best you can for yourself as an individual but also for Clare football,” he told The Clare Echo.
There’s obviously a level of satisfaction when the scores split the posts but Emmet is the first to admit his tallies could be higher. “I would have been disappointed this year with a lot of my shooting efficiencies, 100 percent I could have definitely come away with more. It’s about trusting your ability, trusting you have the work done on your own pitch and training ground, practicing frees or whatever, keep working and eventually it will come good for you. It’s about backing yourself, backing your ability and hopefully with the championship starting I’ll get the efficiency up and we can aswell which is more important”.
Tralee connections through his mother Maureen Maray are referenced by McMahon, “I must get the football blood from her” while his father’s rugby background didn’t tempt him into the sport despite playing it at underage level, “it’s a bit too rough for me now, not as much kicking and shooting, I played a bit underage, good to get accessibility to sports when I was younger but I’ve settled on the football”.
At minor level, he was midfield for the Clare side which contested the 2018 Munster final, losing to Kerry 3-21 1-07. Performances of Clare at minor and U20 level have been positive in recent years, he felt. “I was just talking to Eoin Cleary about it, there’s about six or seven lads on this team born in 2001 or 2002, it’s really good to have that exposure at inter-county level from minor and U20s because it helps you when you come to this, as long as we’re progressing every year and every month we’ll be doing well”.
Now well versed to what Colm Collins brings to the table, Emmet has been impressed with the new additions to the county football management this season in what he called an “absolutely unbelievable setup”. He added, “the amount of different insights you get is absolutely excellent. All the lads have their own niche category that they are experts in along with loads of other things, getting the sprinkle of thoughts, advice and everything from each of them because there’s so many parts to the game that you need to be fully focused in, it’s absolutely excellent that we have the access to all of the coaches, we’re getting all their knowledge and hopefully we can apply it for not only next week but the entire championship”.
With Kildysart now operating in the senior championship, McMahon is hopeful the club’s representation on the panel will grow. “I’ve been here four years now, one or two lads have been in or around but I’ve been the only one to stick with it. I’ve no doubt because we’ve a great underage academy coming up, the first step I had with Clare was around U17, hopefully lads will stick with it, get on a few underage panels and hopefully I’ll be going with a full car to training soon”.
There’s no crowd in Cusack Park as Clare continue their preparations but Emmet can feel the anticipation in the air. “You can hear the echo in the noise it bounces around the place. Once you get a good run of a few points in Cusack Park with a crowd behind you then it’s very hard for an opposition to stop that, we’ll do our best to get as much behind us and get momentum going”.
Playing for a spot in the All-Ireland championship and to avoid the Tailteann Cup is something that can help their approach, he believed. “It’s something to embrace and we will embrace it next Sunday, it’s a big game and there’s no shying away from it, it’s really important, the All-Ireland championship is on the line, we’re focusing on getting a really good performance in, the result will look after itself”.
