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*Tommy Guilfoyle congratulates Adam Hogan. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.
AN ALREADY unforgettable year just keeps getting better for Adam Hogan.
Corner back on Clare’s side to win All-Ireland and National League honours, his year began with Mary Immaculate College winning the Fitzgibbon Cup and his displays earned him the player of the competition award.
On Monday, he lined out at full-back as Feakle claimed a first Clare SHC title since 1988 while further accolades in the guise of Young Hurler of the Year and a first All Star award are likely to make their way to the Hogan household in East Clare very soon.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Adam said, “It’s special. I’m not going to dwell on it now but when I look back on 2024 I’ll look back on it being one of the best years of my life”.
Winning with Feakle is different, he admitted. “I can’t wait to celebrate tonight with my best friends. I’ve been playing with these lads since I was five years old and looking up to the older lads. I can’t wait to celebrate with them”.
Hurling is a tie that bonds in Feakle, he explained. “If you’re from Feakle, you play hurling. It’s a culture here. When you’re growing up, everyone plays. It’s such a special place. It’s so small and everyone knows each other. We’re such a tight night group. I’d that’s what got us over the line today. We’ve been through wars together. Thank God we got over the line. I’d say that bond got us there”.
Tasked with marking Sixmilebridge freetaker Alex Morey, Hogan praised the manner in which referee Joe Mullins took charge of the tie. “It was very physical. Joe Mullins reffed it very well. It was tough to ref in the conditions but he let it go. It was very physical and in fairness to the bridge, they never stopped. We knew they were champions however many times for a reason and we’d need to go to 60-65 minutes to get over the line and thank god we did”.
As a defensive unit, Feakle’s back seven focused on keeping a clean sheet. “One of our main mottos is if we don’t concede a goal, we’ll win the game. Eoghan Daly came in today and held his own against a great player like Brian Corry but as a defensive unit no lad stands out. We held as a defensive unit and thank God helped us get over the line today”.
Bringing the greater desire was an aspect Feakle touched on in the lead up to Monday’s final, the student teacher said. “The messages were about how we had to want it more than they did. We had to stick to the game plan and work it through the lines and get it to the delivery zone. We did’t hit it from back far because the Bridge would eat it up if we hit it from back far. Management couldn’t have done it better. We did our analysis on the Bridge and looked at their strengths and weaknesses and adapt. To be fair thought, we didn’t change it up that much really. It was the same in all the group games.
“A few weeks ago we said we needed to write our own history. We couldn’t be looking back at ’88 too much. We needed to write our own history and thank god we did. It’s special. I think someone said there were ten sons of the 88 team on the panel so it’s special to have that link up. It showed how tight knit we are,” he concluded.
