This article is from page 66 of the 2011-08-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 66 JPG
WHEN TONY Carmody retired from senior inter-county action at the back end of 2009, it was generally felt that it would be the last supporters would see him in a Clare jersey. After nine years at the top level, the former Inagh/Kilnamona man amassed 32 championship appearances, scoring 4-48 in a glittering career that included an All-Ireland final appearance in 2002.
However, with the rejuvenation of this year’s county intermediate panel under Kevin Kennedy, the appetite to represent the county proved too tempting to pass up and along with several of his former senior teammates, he took the plunge once more, with unprecedented results.
“I suppose at the time, there was a change of management there and I felt at that time that I had been on the road for a long time and I suppose really the hunger wasn’t there.
“It was never my intention to fully give up, I was always trying to keep half fit and keep the door open if I did decide to return and I suppose the opportunity arose in an unlikely source, being the intermediate panel this year. There was a lot of interest this year with all the players getting involved and with the management that was there, it was a bit of a buzz to play again for the county and I suppose it paid off in the end in winning the Munster title.
“To be honest, in the latter stages, it would have been one of the highlights of my career. To captain your county at any grade is a huge honour and especially for a Munster final in Cusack Park, I don’t know if it has ever been done before. In particular the manner in which we won the match and obviously the great support we had on the evening for an intermediate game, I think it was a fair achievement.”
The most intriguing part of the Clare intermediate set-up this year is the unique blend of youth and experi- enced leaders in the side, something that the Sixmilebridge player is keen to elaborate on.
“This year more so than any year, there is a lot of talk about what is the role of intermediate hurling and I think if you look at other counties, they use it as a springboard for young players to make it to senior level. For the young players to gain experience, they need to be playing matches and I don’t think playing one match is good enough for those players to bring them on but as you can see, in the last couple of games, lads are really coming into their own.
“It bodes well for the future with the likes of Daire Keane, John Fennessy, Shane Golden and Kevin Moynihan, there is a fair mix there and for the likes of myself, Niall Gilligan and Declan O’Rourke, it’s great to be involved. You can never beat the winning feeling and it’s hard to put a price on that but we are really enjoying our hurling at the moment and hopefully it will continue.