*Ollie Baker. Photograph: From The Side Lines Photography
FORMER Clare hurler Ollie Baker managed Maynooth as they came up short in their bid for a first Kildare SHC title since 1939.
Naas captured an eighth successive Kildare SHC title when defeating Baker’s Maynooth on a score of 3-13 0-11. A final margin of eleven points is harsh of Maynooth considering all of Naas’ green flags arrived in the second half and two in the final thirty seconds of normal time.
Maynooth started very brightly with the opening five points in five minutes, they couldn’t maintain this dominance and went over fifteen minutes without a score in the first half. Despite this, they led 0-7 0-5 at the break.
Both sides were involved in what was described as “an almighty scrap” as they made their way to the dressing rooms, Naas’ John McKeown picked up a red card for his involvement.
Ex St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield hurler Baker succeeded Johnny Greville as Maynooth manager at the beginning of the season, they have now lost the last three finals to the dominant Naas outfit. On the football field, Maynooth overcame Naas following extra time to progress to a first Kildare SFC final in 110 years.
His link to the club is his former St Flannan’s College classmate Frank McGrath. “Frank’s a Tipperary man originally. We played Harty hurling together in St Flannan’s in Ennis and when he reached out there wasn’t any more than one conversation really. It’s suitable for me in terms of travel and when you meet the sense of the club, which is to be ambitious and to really take care of young lads, that resonated with me and I’ve just really enjoyed it. The same commitment is here as there was in Clare, the same questions are being asked of you, the same sacrifices are being made when we were playing below in Barefield,” he recalled.
“There’s more depth to Kildare hurling than I would have thought. Hurling in Kildare, in terms of fixtures or whatever, it isn’t playing second fiddle to anything else. It stands up in its own right, which is pleasing to see. It’s no surprise that Kildare won the Joe McDonagh two years ago and were really competitive in the Leinster Championship as well, albeit the backbone of that team is the Naas outfit. There’s a pretty decent hurling population and it’s not like they’ve just come upon a good crop of lads”.
Now living in Westmeath, Ollie is stationed as a Garda superintendent in Ballinasloe. He spent eleven months as Superintendent of the East Clare Tipperary North Community Engagement functional area following the merger of the Clare and Tipperary Garda Divisions in the summer of 2023.
His two sons Senan and Tadhg are part of the Westmeath senior football panel. This year Ollie was ‘performance coach’ with the Kevin O’Brien Westmeath senior hurlers. Eight-time All-Ireland winner with Kilkenny, Eddie Brennan has joined the Westmeath set-up in a coaching capacity with Baker reported to have a bigger involvement for the coming season. The management will also include a role for former Clare Oscar Traynor manager, Shane Keegan.
There had been speculation in the off-season that the two-time All-Ireland winner was set to link up with his former county teammate Brian Lohan as part of a potentially revised Clare management for 2027 but this will not come to fruition, The Clare Echo understands.
Also during his time in the Clare/Tipperary Garda Division, Ollie was part of a seven-member hurling review county committee appointed by Clare GAA who helped to restructure the adult hurling championships, most notably resulting in the creation of the premier intermediate grade.
