Magpies reaping rewards of their hard work at juvenile level

As the minor championship trophy was given to Ennistymon, what joint captain Oisin Vaughan said had ramifications far beyond the confines of the grandstand in Hennessy Memorial Park where the handover took place.

His few words, and it only needed a few, spoke of the grand ambition amongst everyone associated with the North Clare Magpies.

By way of background, the county final win in 2011 bookended a glorious run at minor level for the club – it started in 2007 when they beat Kilmurry Ibrickane in the county final in Miltown and culminated with this 2-13 to 1-7 win over Kilmihil.

In between they’d been beaten in the finals of 2008 (Cratloe), 2009 (Lissycasey), 2010 (St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield), but the fact that they’d reached five successive finals on the bounce was something no other club in Clare came close to achieving.

No wonder, Oisin Vaughan articulated this grand ambition when he said: ‘We’re going to win a senior championship’.

And, given the talent that came through the ranks of Ennistymon in that era and once more between 2017 and ’21 when they scored another five-in-a-row where reaching minor finals is concerned, it’s no wonder that Vaughan’s confident cry from 11 years ago still echoes.

All because the expectation has run high in the North Clare capital and all the way out towards Lahinch and Moy.

It’s this conveyor belt of talent at underage that has brought Ennistymon back to the big day, with club chairman Shane Talty quick to appreciate the huge work that has been put in along the way. These have been the building blocks.

“The underage has come in two phases,” he said. “The strength in the noughties culminated in reaching those finals from 2007 to ’11 and what followed was the backbone of the 2018 team that reached the county final.

“At the same time, another bunch of youngsters started to emerge in 2011 and ’12 at a very young age that again, culminating in five more minor finals from 2017 to 2021.

“It’s the buy-in from parents that become the coaches and mentors of their own age groups. When you’re getting under 6s involved you need to be bringing a parent or two in with you to bring those guys along,” he added.

Along the way, they have benefitted from great coaches, with stalwarts like Christy McCaw, Cathal Crowe, Mark Shanahan, Brendan, Michael and Joe Joe Rouine, as well as Brian Conneely, John McInerney all involved.

“These guys have been with phase after phase of talent that has come through. These are the names that are the backbone of the club in terms of coaching. In the club, everyone that wants to assist has a role. Everyone has different talents. Some are administration only, some are coaching only, and some are fundraising only. It’s to get that balance of talent that you need to keep the thing moving,” he added.

The result has been that Ennistymon have had a constant conveyor belt of talent coming through onto the senior team, while the current well-being of the club at adult level is reflected in the success of the intermediate and junior B teams reaching the semi-final stages of their respective championships.

“You don’t hold onto everyone but what we’ve done in the last few years is field a third adult team,” said Talty, “and that’s to keep as many involved as possible for as long as possible.

“You mightn’t be a star on a minor team, but if you keep involved and keep committed there’s no reason why you can’t build your way up through the three adult teams.

“We had a junior team that won the Junior A Championship last year — we put a massive emphasis on that team to bring through a bunch of 18-year-olds who are proving to be leading lights on this year’s senior team. It’s to have that structure in place that everyone has an opportunity to come through,” he added.

This is reflected in the makeup of this year’s panel, with the stars of the most recent minor teams past given their chance and have grasped to bring the club to within 60 minutes of a historic first county title.

“It’s a great buzz and a great excitement,” admitted Talty. “The schools are on board, the kids are getting the colours on and there’s a real buzz, while from a club, management and players’ point of view, they are really looking forward to it. The sole focus is to try and perform on the day and do themselves credit and give credit to what they have done all year.

“There is a big overlap in terms of players still involved and there is more or less the same backroom team. You have that experience in terms of how you handle the build up and the day itself. 2018 was our first time there and there are learnings. Hopefully, we can use those learnings to our advantage.”

They’ll find that out on Sunday afternoon.