*Centre-half duo Dylan Casey and Conor Mullen. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
LIFE HAS BEEN PRETTY GOOD for Conor Mullen as of late.
Earlier this month, he tied the knot with his long-term partner, Ruan native Rachel Lyons and on the field the Avenue Utd defender collected a coveted Clare Cup medal on Saturday evening. “I still haven’t recovered yet to be honest, if we can round it off now on Wednesday it will mark a great year,” he remarked of the wedding celebrations and his target of adding a Premier Division medal to the collection.
A mainstay of the Avenue defence for the best part of a decade, the thirty year old embraced their breakthrough. “It’s ten years of a wait, Newmarket have been a fantastic side and they were great again today, credit goes to them, they are a great club but thankfully today was our day, I’m absolutely delighted”.
Getting over the line in a key contest against Newmarket Celtic was vital given the dominance held by the reigning League champions in Clare soccer. The centre-half stepped up with an important block to deny Gearoid O’Brien and Celtic from getting a much needed lift late in the opening half. “There’s enough bad times so you have to enjoy the good times, we’ll let the hair down and recover for another big battle on Wednesday”.
Cup finals are never easily won, particularly against a side of Newmarket’s calibre, the two time Oscar Traynor medallist noted. “They’re a great side, Shane Cusack is an unbelievable goalkeeper, his distribution is excellent, Stephen Kelly, Eoin Hayes, Gearoid O’Brien they pose a threat in every second of every match but thankfully we managed to match them and lucky enough we got over the line”.
From the start of the season, Avenue targeted winning the double in Clare, he admitted. “We got to the last sixteen in Munster and the FAI, the aim this season was always to win the double, that is the first part done, we’ll get Wednesday over and done with, hopefully a big year again next year”.
He acknowledged the massive commitment shown across the board which was led by the management team of David Russell, Dave O’Grady and Eamon Reilly. “We’ve met over 120 times the past twelve months, once every two or three days, the fitness levels showed and thank God we showed a bit of composure and it’s great to get the win”.
In the lead-up to the Banner Carpets and Flooring Clare Cup final, one talking point was that leading goal scorer Elias Kunz had yet to pick up member of the month at Hustle Fitness, the gym owned by Mullen. Following a man of the match display on Saturday and an exceptional season, Elias can expect another accolade to follow. “He’s getting member of the month for this month, I know a man in that gym, he is getting member of the month absolutely,” Mully revealed with a grin.
