This article is from page 58 of the 2008-07-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 58 JPG
NO sooner had the Tommy Murphy Cup landed in Clare in 2004 than David Russell was confonted by the first real crossroads of his foot- ball career. Approached by the then Clare senior manager John Kennedy, Russell along with fellow Clarecas- tle and county team-mate Stephen Hickey were advised that it would be in their best interests for their inter- county careers that they transfer to a senior club.
It was a predicament that Rus- sell had never pondered before. His family genes were firmly rooted in Clarecastle GAA throughout the gen- erations. His father Paschal had won four county hurling championships for the club throughout his distin- guished career but while David was a dual player, football was his first love and with the game constantly struggling to stay afloat in a pre- dominantly hurling dominated club, he decided to adhere to his mentor’s advise.
News of Kennedy’s counsel spread quickly and the pair were contacted by Eire Og player-manager James Hanrahan who made it clear that they would be welcome at the En- nis club. So after much deliberation and banter from both sides, Russell, Hickey along with two others trans-
ferred across the rival divide to their near neighbours. ; ;
Russell knew a lot of the Eire Og players through his soccer con- nections and had played with Alan Malone and Cathal Shannon at county minor and Under 21 level but integration was still initally difficult but after a couple of games, even the most stubborn panelists were convinced that the newcomers were pulling in the same direction.
The key galvanising moment for Russell came in his first champi- onship season in the quarter-final of 2005 when Doonbeg knocked them out of the championship. Due to sickness, Russell didn’t play that day but watching from the sideline, he observed a different perspective, principally the aversion towards the townies by their rivals and it had a unforgetable effect on him. In fact he attributes a lot of the credit of their county final success a year later to that game as the players realised they needed to become a more resilient side if they were to finally make the breakthrough.
‘2006 was definitely a knock-on ef- fect from 2005. I realised how much most other teams had a distaste for the club and considered us soft
touches and we had a meeting only a week after the Doonbeg game and decided that we were going to have to be a stronger, fitter and harder team in 2006. And it showed as we went through the championship unbeaten and won the county final to cap off a Super year.”
Russell was a mainstay in _ that championship winning side, starting all seven games at wing-back but that elation turned to frustration last year. He was forced to sit out the majority of the championship after rupturing his medial ligament in the Clare Cup Soccer final while playing for Av- enue Utd.
“It was the worst injury I have ever had. I was out for four months and to stand on the sideline along with Michael O’Regan and Mark Kelly it was so frustrating. Fair play to the rest of the lads, the team did very well to win tough games and reach the final and I did make an appear- ance at half-time 1n the decider but it wasn’t meant to be. Personally, from the highs of 2006 to the very lows of 2007, that has really made me more determined this year and hopefully I can remain injury free and move on for 2008.”
From being a blow-in four years
ago, Russell is now captain of the side for the year, a position he could never envisaged when he first arrived at the club.
‘remember our manager Leo Ryan called me over six weeks ago and told me he would like to make me captain and even though I am from Clarecastle and had all my tuition in Clarecastle, it was one of my proud- est moments. To be able to follow the likes of Alan Malone, Peter Cosgrove and Shane Daniels last year is a huge thrill and I’m just looking forward to the first championship game. The league has never been a top priority in the club, the championship has always been where we perform and after getting to the final two years in succession and only losing one match in fourteen proves our pedigree. The motivation is back and the hunger is back to atone for 2007.”
Clarecastle men Russell and Hick- ey have played an integral part in that championship consistency. Maybe there’s some truth in the old magpie saying that ‘one’s for sorrow, two’s for joy’.