*Evan Cahill. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
AS THE only member of both the Clare senior and U20 football panels, Evan Cahill is using his first championship campaign to try propel himself further up the pecking order of the county’s flagship side.
Hindered by a hamstring injury over recent weeks, Evan is expected to line out at midfield on Saturday for Clare’s U20s as they welcome Tipperary to Páirc Naomh Mhuire in Quilty for the first round of phase one in the provincial championship.
This hamstring niggle has kept him out of the reckoning for the county senior side. Prior to the knock, he has found game time harder to come by in his second season with the Clare seniors. Cahill made his debut against Leitrim in last year’s league and featured in five of their seven Division 3 ties off the bench and was also introduced as a substitute when the Peter Keane managed side lost by eleven points to Kerry in the Munster final.
Under new senior manager, Paul Madden, game time has been scarcer for Evan with his only league appearance this year coming as a substitute in the first round five point loss to unbeaten Down.
Balancing both the U20s and seniors has been made easier thanks to the regular communication between Madden and Dermot Coughlan. “The two managers are organising which training I’m going to so it isn’t too bad that way, I was with the seniors mainly at the start of the year and if we had a challenge game with the U20s I’d be going to that and over the last few weeks I’ve been with this fully and I’m coming back from a hamstring injury so I was only sticking with the one physio”.
Keen to progress with the U20s, Evan is also going to use the opportunity to remind the senior management what he can do in saffron and blue. “The better I play with the U20s the more of a chance I have to be playing senior so it is good from that point of view, it is easier to prove yourself in a game than it is in training so it’s a help in that way”.
Madden from the get-go has said his intention is for the U20s to have their grade as their number one priority. Cahill is looking forward to getting more minutes on the field with the U20s, “At least I know I’m going to play a full game at least each week or hopefully as close as I can to it. With the seniors, I’ve only been coming on and with the U20s it’s more of a full game which is better for me”.
Part of the U20 panel for three years, he sees similarities between this year’s set-up under Coughlan and the one he was a substitute for under Michael Neylon in 2024. “It is close enough to the first year, I thought we were very good in the first year, it was a good set-up, it was a very hard working team and a good bunch of players inside”.
Shape and structure of Clare’s U20s has improved following a run of challenge games, Cahill felt. “The start wasn’t going too good but the more we played the better we’ve got and the more structure we’ve added, it has helped us a good bit”.
His aerial ability and the renewed emphasis on restarts in gaelic football makes the Kilmaley man a valuable asset. “I enjoy it a bit more especially the kickout side of things, it is nearly a bit like the way it was with underage when we were with the clubs, long kickouts out and I think that and the new rules suit me a bit better”.
Currently on teaching placement at Scoil Mhichíl Cahermurphy, Evan was part of the Mary Immaculate College side that lost out in the Trench Cup final three weeks ago. “It was enjoyable and different to be playing with lads from other counties, it was a different experience and I learned a few things from other lads, it was fun,” he recounted. Of the reaction of students and staff in Cahermurphy to having a Clare footballer in their ranks, he remarked, “they seem to be happy enough with me anyways”.
According to the first year teaching student, there is a rivalry brewing between Clare and Tipperary when it comes to U20 football. “Especially with Tipperary we want to start with a win, we’re probably the closest team to them over the last couple of years so if we can get a win over them it will be good for the standard and it will be a good confidence boost too”.
He continued, “It is two completely different competitions, if you go good or bad in the first phase it will make it completely different for the second one, if you come first or second in this then you could go in and hammer a team, last year it was close between us and Tipperary both times”.
From Kilmaley, he is quick to point out he started out as a footballer, “I was playing football with Kilmurry Ibrickane first and then I went over to Kilmaley playing hurling, there’s a good few footballers in Kilmaley now”.
Due to his involvement with the Bricks, Evan will be better versed than most on the surrounds of Páirc Naomh Mhuire this weekend. “Everyone on the team is hard-working. We’ve plenty of skilful players but at the end of the day hard work is going to win a lot of the games especially this Saturday where there will be a breeze favouring one side, that is guaranteed so a lot of hard work will be needed”.
