*Liam Markham looks on as Bernadette Crowe is embraced by Shane Markham. Photograph: Ruth Griffin
AVOIDING RELEGATION was the primary focus for Liam Markham when he decided to commit to Cratloe for a season that resulted in them being crowned Clare senior football champions.
Markham has been a pivotal figure in Cratloe’s unprecedented success from 2009 onwards in both codes.
He was wing back that year when the club won the Clare SHC title for the first time, midfield and captain of the 2014 hurling side to win the double while he was wing forward when the footballers won their first title at Doonbeg’s expense in 2013 and centre back contributing 0-2 when they defeated Éire Óg in the 2014 football decider.
On Sunday, Liam lined out in defence as Cratloe had two points to spare over St Breckan’s to claim the Jack Daly.
Measuring where their latest success ranks with previous victories was no easy task, he admitted. “I don’t have children but I’d say if you ask someone who is your favourite child it would be something similar, they are all nice, it has been a long-time coming in fairness, we’ve had a few chances in between the last one but it didn’t quite go our way. I think when you look back and reflect we had a bit of luck, in the semi-final against Éire Óg we were very lucky and also against Kilmurry Ibrickane in the quarter-final, luck was on our side this year and we just got over the line”.
Liam conceded that Cratloe did make that luck count when it mattered. “We played pretty decent today, at the start of the second half they got the first two points to bring it back but we kicked on after that and had a few goal chances, another day they go in and you’re comfortable but they didn’t, Cathal (McInerney) got a cracking goal and he has been brilliant for us all year but they went down and Joe McGann got a super individual goal which brought it back again but we held out from there, we were lucky but delighted”.
Maintaining an advantage was crucial to their win as even a late goal from Joe McGann didn’t bring their opponents back on level terms when the pressure was beginning to mount. “It’s funny, everyone has tactics but when it comes to the county final it is just another game, it can be a slight bit different and people can be nervous or whatever but you’re just trying to find your rhythm, we got a bit of a lead in the first half which was great. St Breckan’s are brilliant at counter-attacking, they came out a small bit against us and they did but we always had enough and a cushion, when you have a bit of a cushion it is great in football because it is hard to get a goal, we had a goal lead most of the way through which helped us because the old legs were crying out”.
Since March 2022, Liam’s commute to training in Cratloe is no longer from Brickhill but rather from London where he works as a tax associate with Morgan Lewis. He quipped of the extra distance to Michael O’Hehir Park, “It’s gone international, I’m some bloody eejit, I don’t know how my wife lets me get away with it. We got married last year so I was over and back for the wedding anyway, this year was a bit different. The lads asked me to come back and I said I’d give it a go.
“I’ve been blessed in that I haven’t got too many injuries, the legs are a lot slower but not injured, I said I’d give it a go for the year. You might think I’m talking crap here but the lads just said we didn’t want to get relegated in either code, that was our focus at the start of the year, we won our first game so that eased the relegation worries but we didn’t think we’d be here at all, it’s nice”.
Conversations have yet to commence with Liam and his wife Sixmilebridge native Chloe Neylon on the fact that he’ll have some extra journeys home given Cratloe will now be lining out in the Munster club, “that’s all to be continued,” he laughed.
