This article is from page 103 of the 2008-10-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 103 JPG
NOT many selectors can claim to have been involved in team that have won county championships at minor, junior ‘B’, intermediate and senior. John Hickey is one of the few, if not the only one. The Kerryman, who has been long since domiciled in Ennis has all these successes to his footballing CV. Indeed, Sunday’s intermediate success means that the
only titles of note outstanding are the under 21 and junior ‘A’ titles. And, he came close to the junior ‘A’ in ’96 when the Townies were beaten in the county final by St Senan’s, Kilkee. aU Umea mm eee mer: ttm ata e Eire Og — he guided the minors to back-to-back titles in 1992 and 93, the junior ‘B’ team to championship glory in ’95, while he won the senior championship in 2000.
That senior title was achieved in
tandem with Dave Loughman (who led Clarecastle to intermediate suc- cess in 1998), while Kilmihil’s Noel Normoyle was a selector. Eight years on he greeted this latest success with the same enthusiasm as all the other wins, even if he was keen to heap praise on others.
“I was only tagging on. It was Dave and Mick who did all the work,’ he said. “Really I was only tagging on with this team,” he added.
Shrewd judges will tell you oth- erwise — Hickey was a vital cog in Kilmihil’s 2008 machine, patrolling the line, knocking heads with Dave Loughman, Mick Darby and com- pany as Kilmihil tried desperately to break free of Michael Cusacks’ dogged challenge.
“It was a great game to be involved in,’ he reflected, “because anytime you get into a final and win is great. This game was in the balance up un-
til the last kick of the game. Michael Cusack’s battled very hard and we knew they would. But we battled as well and it was a great team per- formance. It takes 15 to 18 players, it could have been 20, to win any final. There was a circle there of about 26 to 28 players. They won it.” John Hickey played his part too.