“Veteran” Cleary typical of Shinrone's sea of tranquility

IT may have worked out as perfectly as anything can work out on the day but the difference in mood in Shinrone in the space of a year is very noticeable.

Last year, ahead of the Senior Hurling Championship final against Kilcormac-Killoughey, Shinrone was on edge. Competing in their first final since 1960, it couldn't be any other way but they were nervous of everything. What to do as a club and what to leave to others?

Journalists were treated with complete respect but there was an anxiety around their presence at training ahead of the final and who to put up front to talk to them.

Now a year on and wearing the hat of champions, Shinrone are in the final countdown for a renewal against Kilcormac-Killoughey in Birr on Sunday next but everything feels very calm. There is a steely focus but they know what county final day is about and they know how to handle it.

It's hard to put your finger on but one of their longest serving players, wing back Michael Cleary did attempt to answer the question about the feeling of calm.

“It feels that way to be honest. I think it's just going through what we went through last year. After that semi final win against Belmont (last year), the way we won with two goals at the end, the whole village was on a high for nearly the week after. I think we could have let that get to us last year but thankfully we didn't. We performed in the end in the final but, this year, it's a lot more subdued which is a nice way to be. Again we’re not thinking about the occasion or that we could win two in a row, we don't think about those things at all, we just think about the 60 minutes in front of us, and trying to win the game, and the next ball and that's all really. At the end of the day you don't make a big deal really you try and keep it all low key.”

Cleary has been playing senior hurling since 18 years of age and at 31, he is now one of the veterans of the team.

He experienced plenty of dark days. Years when it was clear that Shinrone were turning a corner and had earned respect but they still couldn't take a big gun in a big knockout game. What changed last year?

“It’s hard to know, we won a quarter final when I was 20 so it would've been 2011/12, we beat Clareen in a quarter final, lost to Rynagh’s in the semi final, and between then and last year we didn't win one knockout game. It's hard to know what changed, probably the experience, the maturity, the group is older I think now. At this stage there's lads there that are 29, 30, 31. We have all the experience of losing. I suppose there's just an experience and maturity there that helped us to get over the line really,and we’re probably sick of losing. As simple as that we were just sick of losing those big knockout games and once we got the win over Rynagh’s in the quarter final last year, our confidence was up, and then we got the win that we did in the semi-final against Belmont where we got the two goals at the end. I suppose it was just confidence after the quarter final that led to the semi final and the final, and, thankfully, things went our way last year, and that's what changed.”

There were moments when Cleary wondered if it would ever happen for them.

“It’s hard to know. There were games we lost that I had huge belief we were going to win, and you always believe every game you're going to win, but when it doesn't happen you're so low for a long time. You're in your own head for the whole winter and you're thinking: “what if, what if, what if? Are we good enough? Will we ever get to where we want to get to?” You kind of just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back training again in January and February, and just do it all again.”

One of Shinrone's big achievements last year was insulating the players from the growing hype in their parish.

“I think the occasion was for everyone else, the families, the club and the people around the village. The occasion wasn't for us, the match was for us. We went out and hurled the 60 minutes as best we could, and that's all we looked at. We didn't think about anything going on outside at all, and I think that was really, really key. It'll be similar again this year, we don't think of the big occasion that's going to be in Birr this year with the county final back in Birr. We don't think about that stuff at all. It's just play the 60 minutes in front of you and play the next ball in front of you, and it's as simple as that, you don't get caught up in everything else.”

There was pressure on Shinrone this year and Cleary does not try and evade a question about the importance of not being one seasoned wonders by coming up with a cliched, generic answer.

“I think it was important that we backed it up, it was probably something people said there that we got lucky or whatever it was, but we didn't feel that. We felt we deserved to win last year, and we wanted to back that up this year, and I think that was a big motivating factor was to back it up and show that we deserved to win last year and we can hopefully get over the line again the next day. It's a matter of playing those 60 minutes against KK and seeing how we go.”

Shinrone is very much a family affair. Michael Cleary's twin, Sean and brothers Adrian and Ciaran are also key players – Ciaran was outstanding last year but only returned from Australia ahead of the quarter-final this year. He has a plethora of first, second, third cousins on the squad as well.

“It is nice, 100% it is. It’s great to go out onto the field with your brothers beside you. They're people you can rely on, they're people that will back you up, they're lads that are going to be there for you no matter what. It's great to have your brothers, your cousins, your family out on the field. It's a great family occasion. My father (Michael) was chairman last year when we got it over the line as well so he was involved, and he's still involved with the panel this year. So it really is a family occasion and it's great really.”

The Birr venue creates a different final this year. There is hype around its return to the hurling heartland as well as more pragmatic concerns such as smaller dressing rooms, warm up area etc. While Shinrone have one of the longest distances to travel into Tullamore, they make no secret about liking the venue and pitch but are not getting caught up in the change.

“I think you just take it as it comes. I don’t think anyone’s going to get too worried about dressing rooms or whatever it is, I think once you're on the field you go and hurl the 60 minutes and you don't overthink about everything that’s around. As I said, you just go and hurl the 60 minutes, you don't think about the occasion or anything else, it's all about the hurling at the end of the day.”

Cleary agreed that Shinrone to have an almost perfect blend of youth and experience with a lot of their players in their peak hurling years.

“100%, there's a great spread there. You have Darren Crean who is 34, Darren O’Meara who’s 35, then myself and Sean would be 31, and there's a few more 30 and 29, but there's lads in mid twenties, early twenties, teenagers, so there's a great spread of lads. I think that's important. If we were all older ages you wouldn't have the legs, and too young you wouldn't have the experience, so there is a good spread and that's really important.”

He was asked if he was noticing the challenge of coming up against flying young lads in their early 20s. It is not the physical aspect but his own legs that he has observed in particular.

“You would, it's just tougher on the legs more than anything I find. After that Birr game, the quarter final going into extra time, you are stiff and sore for 4-5 days, it took a while to recover, whereas if you're 21/22 you pick yourself up, you'd hurl another game straight away. It's just knowing your body once you get older and how to recover, get the right food in, water, sleep and once you get the recovery right you're right as rain in a day or two, so you think it's manageable really.”

Shinrone look to have brought their performances to another level this year, even if they didn't fire on all cylinders in the group. Cleary is not certain that they have raised the bar.

“It's hard to say if we raised the bar, as you said, we got it over the line a few games in the group, we got over Clareen by a point, we beat Coolderry by a point, Belmont by 4 or 5, and obviously lost to Ballinamere in the last group game, but we were just doing enough to get through those games to knockout and you pick yourself up from there and that's where the real hurling starts. When I go back to when we were 21, 22, 23 and there were real good KK and Coolderry teams that got to All-Ireland finals, they probably did the same thing. They did enough in the group games and then for knockout the real hurling started and they drove on and that's what we tried to do this year, just try to peak at the right time, because you can peak too early. Probably what we did in the past was peak too early in groups and did not perform in quarter finals. J.J. O’Brien, the S&C coach, did an excellent job over the last two years of doing that with us.”

Shinrone lost to Ballinamere in the group and Birr brought them to extra time in the quarter-final in games where they looked to be in control well into the second half. Was this a concern?

“It was a bit of a concern, but, listen, each game takes on a life of its own, and you have to respond in those situations. When things started turning against us in the Birr game, thankfully, we were able to turn it around and get on the right side of it, and I think that shows our experience and maturity because everyone is going to have their bad patch, and you have to be able to turn it around. That's what we did in the Birr game to get it over the line.”

Kilcormac-Killoughey will provide very familiar opposition on Sunday.

“A big challenge, big challenge. They really stepped it up this year from last year, they brought in a few young lads and, listen, they are a brilliant team. You saw them in the semi final there on Sunday. Great performance, pushed on again when they needed to in the last 15 minutes to get it over the line. Really, really good team, I think it's gonna be a great battle. There'll be very, very little in it and hopefully we'll just come out on the right side of it.”

He agreed that the best two teams in the county are in the final

“I think it comes down to knowing how to win, to having that experience, that maturity in those games, those tight battles, and that's what it’s gonna come down to and the next day. If we can do enough to get it over the line in the last five minutes, well, you want a win at the end of the day.”