*Ennistymon captain Eoin Rouine. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
TREMENDOUS ambition and character exists within the Ennistymon football side who will need to mix both ingredients to create a season to remember.
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Ennistymon Fact File
Management: Declan Downes (manager), Brendan Rouine (selector), Michael Rouine (selector), Johnny Conneely (selector), Lawrence Healy (stats), Brian Conneally (stats), Shane Clancy (stats), Eddie Crowe (video), Paul Dunne (S&C).
Captain: Eoin Rouine
Key player: Brendy Rouine
One to watch: Conor Rynne
Fresh blood: Daniel Brody, Adam Ralph,
Departures Gate: Éanna Rouine (RIP), Keith White, Seán Rynne (J1), David Fitzgerald (US), David McNamara, Joshua Vaughan (emigrated)
Treatment table: Diarmuid Fahy (ACL), Darren McNamara (hip)
Titles won: None
Last year’s run: Reached the semi-finals where they lost by fourteen points to Éire Óg.
Schedule of games: Round 1 vs Doonbeg on Friday July 18th in Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay at 19:00
Round 2 vs Kilmihil on Friday August 1st in Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park, Doonbeg at 19:00
Round 3 vs Lissycasey on Sunday August 17th in Cusack Park at 16:00
Championship power ranking (1=weak/unlikely winners, 10=strong contenders): 9
Friday’s opening round tie will be an emotional encounter for Ennistymon as it marks their first championship outing without Éanna Rouine in their lineup. The UL student started all five games for the club in last year’s championship and would have formed a central part of their plans again only for his untimely death in May.
As a mark of respect to their beloved brother, cousin and teammate, the team have retired the number fifteen jersey this year and will be lining out in black jerseys for this campaign.
Ennistymon manager, Declan Downes explained that Éanna’s memory is carried on within the group. “Éanna was a tremendous young fella, I had pleasure of getting to him know with Clare last year when he joined the senior panel after the U20s finished. He was involved in all our league games this year, he had been training really with us. He was a tremendous fella with a huge future ahead of him, he was such a good character and it was a tremendous shock to the group, community, his family and extended family when he passed away. He will be in the thoughts of all the group, his family and friends on Friday, we’ve our own way of carrying our memories of him, we’ve a number of tributes in the dressing room and a public display in recognising his role and talent in Ennistymon from underage all the way up and how he was so liked by all and had a tremendous talent”.
To look for leadership within the Ennistymon club, look no further than the Rouine family who remain the driving forces behind it. Éanna’s older brother Eoin has been appointed as the side’s captain this year, his leadership skills have previously been recognised at county level when he led Clare’s U20 into championship battle.
All too familiar with inter-county fare is Kilmihil native Downes who spent eight seasons as a selector to Colm Collins and held the same role for Mark Fitzgerald’s sole season over Clare last year.
Taking on the Ennistymon role has brought a freshness both for him and their players, he said. “It’s been a really enjoyable run so far, a really good bunch of guys, they’ve given me a great response, it’s been a learning both for themselves and myself with the new rules and how we’ve adapted to them and built our principles of play, they’ve brought a freshness and a new way of thinking of adapting to them and plans around them. It’s been fresh for everyone”.
Having watched the side when scouting for the county panel, he was eager to see if he could bring them to another level. “In my previous roles with Clare I was going to games on a regular basis for the summers, with teams I was involved in I’d have been aware of the quality and character of guys they’re producing in Ennistymon with the Rouines and I felt they had a good young team and an opportunity to go in and help them and set targets as a new challenge”.
With the club contesting finals in 2018 and 2022 along with reaching the semi-finals last season, Downes said there is an appetite to go further. “There’s tremendous ambition in the group, they are a very young group, you’ve guys with experience and have been around big games but they are very young, they have ambition and a burning desire to get back to the big days and to get the chance to represent the club in the big days is a big ambition for these guys, they are putting serious work into the games and it’s where they want to be playing on the biggest days”.
Downes said it was not a source of frustration with players opting to commit to hurling solely which sees them without Cathal Malone and Keith White while both David Fitzgerald and Seán Rynne are currently in the United States, Rynne could yet feature in the coming weeks for them. “It’s very much about next man up, it is an opportunity for someone else to play on the day and grab a jersey and hold onto it going forward. Each and every team going into championship is down players, they’ve injuries and have lads away, that is the nature of championship, it is about building a panel and a team around the principles of play you believe in and making a situation that any player can come into that team. We’ve driven our standards from the start of the year and there’s always going to be people missing so you have to deal with it”.
Injury doubts surround the fitness of several members of the Ennistymon side meaning they won’t have any idea what their intermediate team will look like until after the final whistle of the senior game.
Dealing with injuries is among the setbacks that the group are strong at recovering from, Downes noted. “I do recognise a serious resilience that they have whether it is dealing with the tragedy this year or the personnel they have available to them, they are driving the standards themselves, they are a really young group with great leadership, we’ve gone after the standards of play and how they carry themselves. We’ve principles we’re keen to develop and once you have built around that players can build in whether they are coming or going”.
Diarmuid Fahy, one of the club’s brightest prospects is ruled out for their entire campaign after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury. A member of the Clare panel in 2024, Fahy picked up the injury in the warm-up of their challenge game with Limerick side, Fr Caseys a fortnight ago. “Diarmuid is a tremendous talent, he is a great individual and is very dedicated to his football, I’ve been aware of him for a number of years. I had hoped he’d have broken through onto the Clare team but he has had misfortune with injuries on a regular basis, I’m very sure his best days are ahead of him, he is a tremendous guy, he is very dedicated to his recovery, I am disappointed for him, he was on the road back and showing glimpses of his potential, I’ve no doubt we’ll see him in the Ennistymon colours again and his best days are ahead of him”.
On the field, it all starts with a tricky assignment against Doonbeg, it will be their fourth time meeting in the first round since 2019. “From talking to the management and the guys around me, they would be clear that a rivalry has built up with the clubs in recent years, they had a very tight game last year and came out the right side. It is the opening round of championship and we are coming in with a number of challenges, it is a different animal when taking to the field in championship, the pace of the game goes up and the contest for every ball is harder, in pressurised situations you’ll find out where you stand on your processes, it’s a big game and a big start”.
Round two will see him face his own Kilmihil but for now it’s all eyes on Doonbeg. “We have three teams to play in our group but to be truthful I’m only concentrating on game one and not looking beyond that. We’ll cross that bridge when we cross it, our focus has been on game one versus Doonbeg and that is all we can think about for now”.
