‘It’s been a long wait for the final’, says Shane Power

Gerry Buckley reports

Clonkill senior hurlers have a new captain in 2022 after years under the leadership of the iconic Brendan Murtagh, and the club is fortunate to have a player of the experience and ability of Shane Power to skipper them next Sunday in their latest assault on the Westmeath Examiner Cup.

A former regular himself under a number of managers in the maroon and white colours, generally as a tenacious corner back, Power is understandably looking forward to the showdown with Castletown-Geoghegan in TEG Cusack Park.

Ironically, he felt that Clonkill’s opponents will have benefitted from a penultimate round win, as the Loughegar men sat waiting in the wings to identify their final opponents. In this regard, he opined: “Personally, I would have liked to have had a semi-final.

“It’s probably a disadvantage in some ways to go straight to a final. I preferred the old style where you had two semi-finals. However, the new structure is the way it is and we just have to go with it.”

He continued: “The semi-final that Castletown-Geoghegan got where they beat Raharney was a big game for them, and they played really well in it. They were well up for it. They were hungry, and they worked the ball around well.

“They have a few nice young hurlers coming through, as well as having Niall (O’Brien), Aonghus (Clarke) and Liam Varley who have been serious hurlers over the years. They’ll all take watching. They’ve lost a few finals recently and they’ll want to fix that.”

Power felt that the men in green and gold have been somewhat inconsistent this year despite marching to the final with a 100 per cent record. “We probably weren’t expected to get to the final this year, to do half as well as we have done.

“But we’re taking it in our stride and we’re happy to be there. We’ve been hurling well in some games, and in other games not so well. Hopefully, in the final we can get it all together and hurl to our best,” he stated.

He conceded, as a former footballer of note himself with The Downs, that it has been a difficult period for the large dual contingent in the Clonkill squad with both clubs going very well in their respective championships.

At the time of writing (two days before The Downs’ clash with Tyrrellspass), he reflected: “Since the round robin matches ended, we’ve played one full-scale challenge match in training, but it’s been hard to get everyone together with about ten lads involved with The Downs. Hopefully, they’ll come through that uninjured as well. “It’s hard for dual players to do both. I didn’t go back to The Downs this year as I was made captain in Clonkill. I said that I’d better prioritise the hurling. On the injury front, John Kenny got a bad belt on the ankle. Hopefully, he’ll be OK to play in the final, as well as all the footballers.”

In addition to the aforementioned Murtagh, who “has played a bit with the intermediates, but has been mainly playing football”, the Clonkill captain clarified that “a few experienced lads have stepped away, like Kelvin Reilly and Paddy Dowdall.

“However, a few younger lads have come in, like Oisín Loughlin, Josh Murtagh, Rian Holding and Matthew Shaw. They’ve all done well and it will be their first final. There are other lads who have been given a chance, like Oisín Murray and Brian Gaffney, who have been going well also.”

Power concluded by saying: “It’s been a long wait for the final and there hasn’t been the same hype about things, the same buzz, like there would if we’d had a semi-final. But we’re focused on the final now.

“It’s something you always dream of, winning the championship and being the captain. Please God, we’ll produce our best performance of the year in the final.”