Coughlan ready for battle

EARLY season training with a twist. Enda Coughlan has grown accustomed to the hard slog during the months of February and March in recent years, trying to calibrate his body for the rigours of the football season ahead.

Typically for Coughlan that has entailed intercounty duties with Clare but he has a valid excuse for being marked absent from the Banner setup of late. Tomorrow afternoon he’ll strap on the captain’s armband and lead his club Kilmurry-Ibrickane out for battle in the All-Ireland Club SFC final against St Gall’s in Croke Park. The club has consumed his football interest over the past few months and the difference in being immersed in fierce competition at this time of year has infused Coughlan with enthusiasm.

“Normally this time of year, I’d be either with Clare training for the league or if it was with Kilmurry-Ibrickane, I’d be training for the Cusack Cup.

“It’s a bit different, but it’s great to be still involved in a championship and you look forward to training. I suppose the other bonus is I might have missed all the heavy training when I get back with Clare,” he laughs.

Kilmurry-Ibrickane’s journey to this final has been a remarkable tale as they have belied the traditional lowly status associated with Clare football. But they have been consistent challengers over the past few seasons without reaching the prized final stage.

And it is the memories of those misses which fuelled their drive in this campaign.

The Munster quarter-final meeting with Limerick champions Dromcollogher-Broadford last November was a repeat of their provincial final clash in 2008 which they lost by a point. Then last month’s semi-final win over Portlaoise came five years after they failed at the same stage against Ballina.

“We felt we owed Drom-Broadford one,” admits Coughlan. “Playing at home gave us a great chance as there’s a good sea breeze that comes in there in Quilty, and thankfully we were used to it whereas they weren’t. For the people of the parish, it meant an awful lot to be playing a game at home and to see us win.

“Then in the semi-final I remember saying to the lads beforehand that I still had regrets about that game against Ballina five years ago. We got caught up in stuff we shouldn’t have got caught up in and our discipline wasn’t good. Ultimately it cost us. This time we kept our heads and hit the ground running from the start, and the quarter-final against Tír Chonaill Gaels had been a big help in that regard.”

The improvements in discipline have been largely wrought by the arrival of Mícheál McDermott as coach in 2008. Coughlan is effusive in his praise of the Cavan man.

“The last few years we got more discipline in our games since Mícheál came into it. The outside manager coming in was a big thing, he had no ties to anyone in here.

“He dropped a few lads last year for drinking and that set the tone, if anyone stepped out of line, they were gone. I think people around here were expecting the successful U21s to come through very fast and when they didn’t come through, people were starting to worry. The last two years have seen a big improvement by us.”

Coughlan has been at the heart of Kilmurry-Ibrickane’s progress and the recent changes to his professional life. Since last April, Coughlan has been stationed as a Garda in Roxboro Road in Limerick, whereas for the previous two years he was working in the southern suburbs of Dublin. His commute to training is now far more appealing and he feels his football has prospered accordingly.

“Being based in Limerick is a big help. The lads there are great to me, especially Larry Glavin and the unit I work with. They look after me very well and are very supportive. I was in Dun Laoghaire and Dalkey for two years before that. They looked after me as well but the travelling was a killer coming all the way home for training. It’s a lot easier now going from Limerick to Quilty.”

Tomorrow’s final has a novel ring to it with Clare and Antrim participants but Coughlan is well-versed in their opponents abilities. Recent county meetings between Clare and Antrim have informed him of the potency of St Gall’s players.

“We played Antrim in 2005 with Clare when Donie Buckley was over us and beat them up in Belfast. Since then they’ve given us a few hidings, we played them last year up in Antrim and they beat us well. The year before we played them in Ennis and they gave us a nice beating. Looking at how Antrim have improved over the last few years, it’s no surprise to me that St Gall’s are in the final. If we’re not at the top of our game to beat them, we won’t be anywhere near them.”