All in the family

ONE Crusheen family could pick up five Munster medals on Sunday.
Half of the defence facing Na Piarsaigh will be made up of Dillon brothers, Cronan, Cathal and Cian, while another two brothers, Shaun and Briain, are also on the panel.
At 34, Cronan is the eldest of the five and is at full-back now, having spent most of his career in the half-back line. Throughout a long career with the club he didn’t expect to reach a Munster final.
On a personal level, he says it took him a while to get used to playing in the full-back line.
“Times change and maybe I’m getting a bit slower. In fairness to Cian there aren’t many centre-backs as good as him around, so I ended up at full back. It’s a position I found hard to get used to at first, when you’re in the half-back line and the ball goes behind you don’t worry about it as much but now it’s a position of responsibility and you have to kind of rule the roost around there. Once I got used to playing out in front and going to the ball first it became second nature to me.”
In 2007 a fancied Crusheen side lost a county final to Tulla, who were then managed by Michael Brown. It would take them three years to reach another final but when they got back to a decider they were more focussed, Cronan believes.
“I’d say we were a bit naïve that time, even the older players, and I was 30 or 31. We got so excited by the whole thing and the heads weren’t right. Definitely getting the heads right is a massive part of winning finals and I think Crusheen have learned from that. The whole parish got excited in ’07 but things were low key in 2010 and we learned from our mistakes and we drove on from there.”
A terrible start to the second half against Kilmallock saw Crusheen’s Munster campaign falter at the first hurdle last year. He feels that the distractions associated with winning Canon Hamilton for the first time weren’t conducive to going far in the provincial competition. “When you’re after winning a county title for the first time in the club’s existence so much happens around you after that. We had a two-week turnaround and with celebrations and things it took a while to get back into focus. Winning the county final was the main thing and I think people were saying that if we beat Kilmallock it would have been a bonus and maybe we could drive on from there.”
Cian has been playing for the Clare seniors for the past few years and Cronan feels that Cathal, who played for Clare in 2009, could also be on the county squad but for family commitments.
Cathal had an outstanding second half against Carrigtwohill, curbing Niall McCarthy who had been the Cork side’s best player in the first 30 minutes.
Cathal, who is 31, feels that the mix of ages in the Crusheen panel is very positive. “There are more than 30 lads on the panel and the younger lads have a few role models to bring them along. If you look at the Clare team they were probably missing that and they’ll probably be missing it for a few years. We have a balance which is great.”
He is a community worker in Southill and is living in Newmarket. Hurling into late November means a huge commitment he says. “There’s a lot of driving alright. It can be tough going, driving all the time, sticking your head in the door, saying hello to the kids and saying goodnight and then coming training.”
When Crusheen drew Kilmaley, Clooney-Quin, Newmarket and Ballyea it was clear that if they were to retain their county title it’d be done the hard way.
As it turned out Crusheen topped the group, before recording victories over Broadford and Kilmaley to reach their third final in five years.
The final was played in extremely wet conditions, but Cathal says it was still possible to hurl, despite the constant rain. “I know a lot of people were complaining about the pitch and the day, but you saw Paddy Meaney get a point when the ball bounced up for him. There were no loughs of water stopping the ball. There were lots of throw-ins but you’ll have throw ins in any game.”
Cronan and himself have soldiered for Crusheen for many years, while he feels Cian has a bright future with both club and county. “He’s in a great position now at 22-years-old and fairly settled on the Clare team. You’d hope that he won’t get any injuries that’d effect him.”
For his part Cian, has praise for his two older brothers. “Cronan and Cathal were always there to look up to. They’ve great commitment given to the club. Other older lads like Gearóid O’Donnell as well, they were around when Crusheen won the intermediate. For them to be involved and to still be as hungry as they are, that’s amazing”.
It’s a long time now since Crusheen started training for the county championship, but there’s no question of fatigue being an issue. “You don’t mind once you’re winning; you look forward to every single game, every training session”.
He also feels that competition for places is also keeping things going.
“Lads have to make sure they’re on top of their game or they know they’ll be watching out from the stands. I think that’s what’s keeping lads going more than anything.”