*Gavin Cooney offloads the ball as Daryn Callinan gives chase. Photograph: Mike Brennan
LABELLED as favourites before a ball was kicked in this year’s Clare SFC, Éire Óg didn’t pay much heed to the tag according to their goal scorer from Sunday’s county final win.
Captain of the Éire Óg title winning sides of 2021 and 2022 there were fears amongst followers of Clare football that Gavin Cooney would be lost to club and county when he moved to Australia last year.
“When I left I told them that I would come back for the championship and when Clare qualified for the All-Ireland final, I returned earlier than planned which enabled me to build up some fitness before the championship got underway”, the scorer of 1-2 in Sunday’s victory over Kilmurry Ibrickane, told The Clare Echo shortly after the final whistle on Sunday.
Commenting on the fact that Éire Óg were hot favourites throughout the campaign he said “the bookies have different favourites every year and this year it was us but we didn’t look into that too much. We knew going into every game that we would have to put in a performance to get over the line. Starting out there were six steps to be travelled and we gave every team respect and we knew that if we got the right performance we would be hard to stop. I am delighted that we have got over the line”.
Continuing he said, “Kilmurry are a great team and we knew they were always going to come out fighting and they gave us our toughest test all year. Conditions were tough out there and they got a great start but we knew if we kept at it we could claw it back”.
Recalling his eleventh minute goal which was a turning point in the game, he said, “my man slipped and I got through and was lucky enough to find the net”
Similar to the views of his team mates, Cooney said “the competition for places is our biggest asset, our strength in depth was evident all year. We had lads like Philip Talty, Gavin Murray and Dean Ryan to mention some coming on and making big contributions. That’s what you need to win a championship”.
He also believes that Éire Óg “should give the Munster club championship a good rattle. We feel we are a match for any team in the province and hopefully we will be able to prove that in the coming weeks”.
Having said at the outset that he plans to return to Australia, Cooney does not look likely to be a part of the Clare panel in 2025. “I will be heading back to Australia in the coming weeks but I haven’t decided yet as to when,” he said.
