*Ciaran Russell and his family celebrate. Photograph: Mike Brennan
AS CLARE football progressed from Division 4 up to Division 2 and, in the process delivered many excellent performances, Ciaran Russell was one of their key players.
Not surprisingly he has been one of the key figures for Éire Óg throughout the past decade, helping them to three county title wins in the past four years.
Speaking shortly after his side’s latest success, the Garda explained “at the start of the year we set out to get out of our group. We had different aims along the way but, obviously, the main one was to get back to the county final and when you get there you want to win so it’s mission achieved”.
Referring to their exit in last year’s semi-final following a penalty shootout to Cratloe, Russell recalled, “a lot of people spoke about last year but we didn’t make too much of a deal of it. Obviously we were disappointed and at the start of this year we wanted to right the wrongs of last year but that is not what is driving us. Look, we got a new lease of life, we knew we were good enough to be there or thereabouts and we just worked hard”.
Another of the Ennis club’s leading dual players Ciaran said, “we have built up experience over the last four or five years. We were expecting that they would start strong, we were probably caught a bit cold but we knew we didn’t need to panic. We just kept chipping away and the goal was a big score for us. We knew if we kept our composure and stuck to the game plan, we would be in with a shout”.
Ciaran went on to point out “there is big competition for places in this team. Only fifteen can start and maybe five will be used off the bench. This team is built on more than that, it is built on thirty, thirty five lads that are there week in week out and who put in the hard yards in the league. We said before we went out that this is for the group, it is not an individual thing, not a starting fifteen thing or a finishing twenty thing, it is a complete squad thing and the medal is for them as much as anyone else”.
A home Munster club quarter-final on November 10th against either Fr Casey’s or Adare is next for Éire Óg. Russell told The Clare Echo, “we probably feel we have a small bit of unfinished business in Munster. It’s a goal of ours that we put up a good shot as we are not only representing out club now but we are representing Clare as well. Look, we are going to enjoy today and tomorrow, and we will put the head down when we return to training and give it our best shot in two weeks time”.
