*Avenue Utd’s Eoghan Thynne. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
EOGHAN Thynne will captain Avenue Utd as they bid to win a fourth Clare Cup in five seasons, standing in their path are reigning champions Newmarket Celtic with the midfielder describing it “as the biggest rivalry in Clare in any sport”.
Injury to the experienced Conor Mullen has resulted in the captain’s armband heading in Eoghan’s direction.
Since making the breakthrough to the Avenue Utd side in 2022, he has never gone a season without winning either the Premier Division or Clare Cup and he is resolute that 2026 won’t be the year that changes. “Since I joined the A team I haven’t gone a season without a league or a cup, it does somewhat steady the ship because it is about trophies and it is about winning, there is no better team to beat than Newmarket to keep the show on the road, it also gives you a bounce into next year, it was the same last year when we recovered to win the league”.
On the flip side, losing out to Newmarket Celtic would certainly serve as a setback, Thynne acknowledged. “If Newmarket did the double it would definitely hurt us, it would be a really big blow because this particular team with the likes of myself, Conor Hehir, Cullen (McCabe) since we came up into this team we’ve become used to winning and you have to earn it too, you don’t get anything easy in the Clare league, especially against Newmarket those games are always physically very demanding”.
Part of the Avenue Utd B side which lost the 2020 Cup final to Newmarket Celtic, Eoghan will line out in his fifth Cup final this weekend. “Hopefully it will be my fourth Cup medal for the trophy cabinet”.
Prior to the 2022 season under David Russell, Avenue Utd had gone eleven years without winning a trophy. Adrian Walsh in his first campaign has secured the Hugh Kelly Cup but there has definitely been more transition than they forecasted when setting off on their latest run. “We’ve been in transition a small bit, we’ve had a turnover of players so we have changed, Elias (Kunz) is gone and has been a huge loss. We’ve brought in players like Jack Joyce and Conor Finnucane, it can take a while to gel together, it probably hasn’t fallen our way this year but we still have a Cup final and can get some more silverware at the end of the year”.
Injuries and departures have made things difficult for the club, he said. “We’ve been unlucky with injuries and getting caught in the Munster Junior early in the season caught us on the hop, some unlucky results throughout the season but that is life, lads depart and you can’t keep guys forever, you need to try and keep as many players and get more coming in, that is the battle”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Eoghan outlined that there is a bigger onus on him in the absence of their injured players to try lead the way. “It’s mad seeing the younger players coming in now with the likes of Ryan Mahony and Owen Hadden, you’re trying to stand up in the bigger games because there is certain games where we haven’t stood up. The Coachford game was one of the low points in my Avenue career, lads will be looking to us in the bigger games to stand up, get that crucial goal or that crucial block”.
Absenteeism has also led to the twenty six year old featuring more on the left wing than his familiar spot in the engine room of centre midfield. “We’re very much in transition, we’ve new players in, Jack Joyce is a centre midfielder so we’ve to try players in different positions because the team won’t stay the same forever, we’ve had an awful lot of injuries especially with wingers, you are trying to cover places so I will do what I can for the team, I don’t think I’ve been particular great on the wing but you can only do what you can do”.
Of the finalists, he feels Avenue come into Saturday’s decider with a bit more energy. “It’s been about recovery since Saturday’s semi-final, I don’t think our game was as difficult as Newmarket’s so you’d hope we’ll be a small bit fresher, we’ll see what the weather is like, that will play a part I think, if it is a nice dry day it will be a more expansive game, a lot of our games with Newmarket tend to be a bit cagey at times, hopefully it will be a bit more expansive than previous games”.
Rivalry between Avenue and Newmarket will add to the occasion of Saturday’s Cup final, the UCC graduate believed. “The Avenue vs Newmarket games are why you want to play soccer in Clare, it is the biggest rivalry in Clare in any sport I think because those two teams have been at the top for the last six or seven years, you enjoy the build-up and every Cup final no matter if it is your first or tenth you get the same nerves and same buzz off them so hopefully we’ll be in the winning camp this year”.
A solicitor with Sheehan Law in Dublin, ‘Tiny’ has been clocking up the miles as part of his sporting commitments since February. “I’m commuting up and down, we’ll have one less commute with the soccer from next weekend on. I’ve been doing it since February and I’m not going to lie it is difficult because if you’re trying to get down for a Thursday before a big game it is tough, I’m doing it for the football which is ongoing but we’ve a few boys up there from Barefield so if you’ve a couple in the car it makes it a bit easier whereas it can be a lonely journey if you are on your own”.
On and the off the field he has been given more responsibility, be it moving from a trainee solicitor with MHP Sellors to his current role in the capital or getting the captaincy of Avenue. “You no longer have the trainee tag and the responsibility is on you, you’re meeting clients and stuff so the first year is the most demanding because you are the newbie and trying to find your feet but I’m definitely enjoying it. As you get older you have to take on more responsibility, whether it be in your professional or personal life, I’m very much enjoying it and it is part of growing up”.
Podcasts help to pass the journey while he will be joined over the coming months by St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield teammates Charlie Hannan and Sam Costelloe for “the long aul trek” in the near future. “Crime World is good, there’s some good sound bytes on it, it is something to listen to, the Independent podcast is decent too,” he said of his recommended podcasts.
Within the Avenue ranks, he is joined by Jack Joyce, Conor Finnucane and Jack Ryan who play their gaelic football with Éire Óg, Lissycasey and Wolfe Tones, all sides that Eoghan would not hesitate in trying to take down when lining out with The Parish. “There’s a good cohort here, the two Jacks are very sound lads and Conor too, there will be no mercy shown on the football field but we are a team here. There is a good collective spirit in the dressing room at the moment and hopefully we can bring that into Saturday”.
After this weekend, his focus will revert to St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield with Donagh Vaughan’s side eager to build on their run to last year’s Clare SFC final. “The focus is on Saturday but then it will switch to playing Ennistymon in the final round of the Cusack Cup to stay up, another tough away assignment, it gives a bit of a bounce for the championship, we can’t make the Cusack Cup final at this stage so it will be different from last year and we’ve some good friendlies lined up and a different dynamic leading into this year’s championship so hopefully we will give it another rattle”.
Among his Doora/Barefield teammates is Cian McDonough who is part of the Newmarket Celtic squad, “We won’t be talking this week,” Tiny confirmed with a grin.
