*Newmarket Celtic defender Tadhg Noonan in action against Shannon Town. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
TADHG Noonan has played his part in welding a formidable defensive anchor with Harvey Cullinan for Newmarket Celtic as the club strives to win successive Clare Cup titles.
Last May, Newmarket Celtic won their twentieth Clare Cup and Tadhg’s first when they defeated Tulla Utd 1-0 courtesy of a goal by their talisman Eoin Hayes.
Saturday sees them return to Frank Healy Park, this time to take on rivals Avenue Utd. Tadhg feels they are in a stronger spot following on from their recent league success which marked his first time winning a Premier Division medal. “It was very important to win the league, it was good to win it back, we hadn’t won it for a couple of years, it was important to win it this year, we put a stamp on it to say we’re still here”.
Cup finals can make players jittery and full of nerves but that won’t be an issue for Tadhg. “I’m more nervous about this interview than I am for a match to be honest,” he told The Clare Echo. “I wouldn’t get nervous going out for a match, maybe the first five seconds and it all goes then”.
Composure and discipline will be key to determining who lifts the Cup on Saturday, the twenty one year old maintained. “Hopefully things go right, I don’t think we have much to fear, if we keep things in shape it will be all good”. He added, “It will be a feisty one on Saturday, if we can keep it intact and not go down to ten men I think we will be alright”.
Having went 3-0 ahead in last Friday’s semi-final win over Bridge Utd, they didn’t do things the easy way and had to settle for a 4-3 victory. Noonan felt the sending off of striker Darragh Leahy for a second bookable offence did put them under more pressure. “When we went down to ten men it didn’t really help us, we defended but we conceded two late goals which we wouldn’t be proud of but we got the win which was the main thing”.
Lessons can be learned from suspensions with Tadhg still lamenting his absence from the Munster Junior Cup semi-final defeat to Aisling Annacotty due to a red card received in the last eight. “I thought we could have made it to the final, I missed the semi-final which was disappointing but it was my own fault I suppose so it is a learning curve, it gave us a lot of confidence this year going into every game and taking it game by game”.
A welder with Superior Trade Frames, Tadhg has observed stark contrasts in the managers to have given him starting roles with the Newmarket Celtic side, the incumbent Alan Gough and his predecessor Eoin O’Brien. “Alan’s a nutcase, he does the job, I’ve never met a fella like him, he is up your hole about everything. Eoin knows what he is doing, he is composed about everything, Alan could lose it sometimes but he has a right to”.
Called up to the Newmarket Celtic A team at the age of sixteen, he missed the following season after breaking his ankle. Having featured as a striker for large spells of the 2024/25 campaign, Tadhg has nailed down his spot as centre-half and has played some of his best football at this level under Gough. “I started last season as a centre half and then got thrown back up top. This year I think I’ve been made a fully committed centre-half for the rest of my days”. He said it takes time for young players to be fully ready for junior soccer, “your body might not be ready for it as much as you think it is, you’re getting put through the works and getting pushed every day”.
His time up front has made him a better defender, Tadhg believed. “From playing up top I’m used to what players go off and making their runs, I’m used to seeing that but there isn’t too much of a difference, you put your heart on the line when you are in centre half”. He also has learned what can annoy a striker, “I try stamping or whatever I can do to put them off a little bit”.
Making matters that bit easier for Noonan is getting to line out beside Harvey Cullinan, formerly of Sheffield Utd’s U18 and U23 sides. “He is a good friend of mine, it makes the world an easier place playing alongside Harvey, I’ve never played with a player like him or as technically gifted, he makes it look easy”.
Behind them is Shane Cusack, one of the top junior soccer goalkeepers in the country who Tadhg has watched at close quarters all his life, given their proximity as neighbours in Avondale. “I grew up watching him and the way he works from living beside him, he is the best keeper in Clare”.
Facing off with attackers like Kieran Mahony, Eoin Hayes and Darragh Leahy in training will prepare any defence for the tests that await against opposing sides in the county, Noonan outlined. “Kieran is tricky, he can be a handful, if he gets inside you then he’s going to score, Hayzo is the same with powerful pace, Darragh is the complete opposite, he would throw you about the place, he is not afraid of anyone, he would throw elbows in”.
Part of the Ryan family, one of the great sporting clans in the parish in Newmarket-on-Fergus, Tadhg’s mother Eileen is among his most vocal supporters. “They help me out a bit, they’re always asking when is the next match, when is this, they have helped out a bit,” he said of the family backing. He’s in little doubt as to who is the most critical of the relations when it comes to giving feedback, “Christy Ryan, he is brutal, he is dead honest and that is the problem”.
Christy’s son Johnny is the current goalkeeper coach while his other sons Davy, Kieran and the late Pakie have been hugely influential figures within the club. “They have had a central role in the club’s success, Johnny is the goalkeeping coach and has been around a nice few years, Davy has been working behind the scenes and is working on the underage which is good for the club’s development, I think”.
