Damien O’Loughlin with the Paddy Browne Cup. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
JOE CAHILL may have said that Corofin’s panel were full of leaders but when it came to appointing the captain of their side they certainly made an excellent call when choosing Damien O’Loughlin.
It takes the smallest of moments to swing a game and in a county final momentum is truly a precious commodity.
With ten minutes on the clock in Saturday’s intermediate final, Corofin and Sixmilebridge were tied at 0-3 apiece, The Bridge having bounced back from falling two points down to taking the lead via Luke O’Halloran until Shane O’Brien equalised.
Confidence was beginning to grow among the underdogs until O’Loughlin made a vital contribution. Sixmilebridge were about to strike, a goal opportunity was at their feet but the skipper stepped in to block Luke Keogh and possession was turned over, the sliotar travelled from one end of the field to the other with corner forward Michael Kelly putting the North Clare back in front.
Their advantage grew to five points with Gearoid Kelly and O’Brien adding further scores while they kept Sixmilebridge scoreless for twenty three minutes.
Credit is certainly due to Damien for his input here. “In the first half they dropped a man back so it was two on two inside, we had a spare man which we weren’t using well for the first few minutes, we eventually got on top and it fell into place,” he recalled of the opening half.
He added, “It was our plan at the start of the day and our plan at the start of the year to get up to senior hurling, we’re a senior football team and we wanted to be the same in hurling, we’ve done it and we did it the hard way in that we didn’t perform to our best, the Bridge could say the same because there was a lot of wides, it was a dog fight, it was a battle and they are the games you have to win, thankfully we got over the line”.
For the semi-final win over Ruan, Damien was in the half-back line but formed part of their full-back line for the final. “I was full-back all year and got an injury in the last group game of the hurling so I missed the quarter-final then Fionn Clancy stepped in at full-back and he has been there for years so he is a brilliant full-back, when Killian O’Connor missed the last day I filled in as a makeshift centre-back, I was expecting to get back to the full-back line so that is where I was and where I finished the year, I’m well used to it”.
One of the dozen dual-players on the starting team, Damien believed their familiarity as a team has helped them progress on the hurling field this season. “From the August Bank Holiday we’ve played every weekend, the bond you get from playing championship every week is different to other teams, you’re going to the well every week, you recover and you’re straight back into it for the next so it is a great bond and thankfully we will get to do it in senior for both next year”.
Injuries are indeed a negative consequence of their commitments with O’Loughlin among those struggling with knocks in recent weeks. “We have to manage that. In fairness the two managements have been brilliant this year, if you have any niggle they are always giving you a chance to recover, you are never forced to play one over the other, it was always Corofin the club coming first, you’re not forced to play hurling or football, as long as you are there at the end that is all they want, they want you continuously there not just for one-off games, they are brilliant lads to be involved with and they really manage us well”.
Leadership shown by their younger players has aided their success, he said. “There has been a great influx of youth in the last few years, lads winning Minor A titles and U21A titles with brilliant coaching over the years, we knew those lads were coming and we got up in the football two years ago, thankfully they have eventually grown into the team, if you look up the middle of the team we have Killian O’Connor, Conor Leen, Diarmuid Cahill, all these young lads, they have forced their way onto the team and become leaders so it has been a big boost to us”.
Although Corofin have won the Clare intermediate hurling championship on three occasions, Damien is the fourth winning captain from the club at this grade, following in the footsteps of John Malone (1991) and the 2002 joint captains Seamus Clancy and Pat Curtis.
Two years ago, he was part of the Corofin intermediate football side to win promotion and in their first year back senior (2022) they reached the semi-finals. Such a run is something they would only love to replicate on the hurling field next year. “It is a challenge we’re looking forward to, I’ve been playing football and hurling all my life, you always want to play at the top level, I remember coming here in 2006 when they were in a quarter-final playing senior hurling, I still remember it to this day, there was nothing special about the game but just because it was a senior game inside in the Park I can still recall it. Hopefully all of the young lads in Corofin will get to experience it next year and see it week on week playing big matches in senior”.
“We’ve got great support, Joe mentioned at the start of the year that he wanted to get a real unity with the supporters, it worked out by the hard work we’ve shown on the field which brought more and more people supporting us, it was a great boost to us and when it came to the tough matches like today it gave us an extra bit of support to get us over the line”.
