Collins hoping Ilen will call the tune

REMEMBER that superb English series about a family veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire, All Creatures Great And Small? Since returning to his home place in West Cork, that has been the life of Fachtna Collins for the past five years.

Back to his roots after a journey that took him from Dublin, where he qualified as a vet, to Kanturk, where he cut his teeth, Fachtna has now established his own practice, amongst the fields and farmers her grew up with.

Through all those years that he was away, however, his heart never really left. A magnificent footballer, winner of a minor All-Ireland with Cork in 1991 and a Hogan Cup, with nearby Skibbereen, Collins could have had his pick of any football team in the county with which to try for major honours.

Without even going outside West Cork he could have joined the powerhouses like Skibbereen, Castlehaven, Bantry or Clonakilty. Instead he opted to stay with his home club, Ilen Rovers, his humble club, at the time.

He explained: “I finished college in 1996 and up to that Ilen Rovers were only junior and not very successful. They used to be beaten in the first round every year. I played from 1990 to 1995 and we never won a game in the championship. It was knockout in those days so after one loss you were gone for the rest of the year.”

Through all those barren seasons he stayed with his club, until finally in 96, the light began to shine through.

“It was a dream to win a West Cork junior title. We beat Rosscarbery and then we went out the following Sunday and lost to Nemo’s third team in the county championship, by two points!”

Eleven years after defeat to Nemo Rangers’ third team in the county junior championship, the same two clubs meet again, except this time it’s in the Cork SFC Final. Some turnaround, one that even Fachtna, then on the Cork senior panel and with serious ambitions of his own, just could not have envisaged.

“No, I could not,” he admitted. “It is an absolute dream. Winning the West Cork in 1996 was almost a pipe-dream in itself around that time.

In 97 and 98 we were beaten again, but by 99 we wanted another bite of the cherry. So we won the West Cork again, got to the county final but lost to Youghal by a point. It was heartbreaking but it worked to our benefit.

“It galvanised us and the following year we came back stronger, we won the west but lost to Killavullen in the county semi-final. Finally in 2001 we went all the way, beating Kinsale.

“Playing intermediate as well kind of suited our style of play — you didn’t have all that local rivalry, there were fewer stoppages, and we didn’t have players trying to stop us from playing football. We were able to express ourselves more. We were beaten by Newmarket in 2002.

In 2003 we were fresher and thankfully we beat Carrigaline in the intermediate final. At that stage then I thought, this is definitely it. But we went on to win the All-Ireland intermediate final!”

By 2004 they were up with the big dogs in senior. For over a decade Castlehaven had been the pride of West Cork, the club every team in Carbery looked up to with admiration, and with envy. In 2003, even as Ilen Rovers were winning their first intermediate county, Castlehaven were adding another senior title.

So, who were Ilen Rovers drawn to play in the first round of 2004? That’s right — Castlehaven.

“We beat them in our first senior championship game. Castlehaven would be looked on as the gods of football down here, so to beat them was absolutely unbelievable. We wanted to show we belonged at senior, and if you look back at our record since then it’s not too bad either. Beaten by Bishopstown by a point in 2004, beaten by Ballincollig last year, but Nemo have been our bogey team. Let’s hope we can turn that around on Sunday!”

Sunday, we must talk about Sunday, and we must talk about Nemo Rangers. In Cork they like to see themselves as put-upon, as the club nobody loves. Well, while it’s true that they are the team everyone wants to beat, true also that because of all their success they will rarely enjoy neutral support, they are probably the most admired club in Cork.

Count Fachtna Collins among those admirers: “They’re a machine, absolutely, an unbelievable club. They don’t lose players, even those who have moved away tend to stay with them. We went up there as a junior team years ago for a challenge game and I remember Stephen O’Brien and Jimmy Kerrigan were putting out flags — that, to me, was unbelievable. These are two legends, but to see them doing that kind of work is fantastic.”

He’s a bit of a legend himself now, down around Baltimore, Aughadown, Rath, around Cape Clear and Sherkin, is Fachtna Collins — at a glance, in fact, he looks like Martin Johnston, the English rugby giant, World Cup-winning captain, a man to whom he could most certainly relate. He won’t see it that way, local heroes rarely do, but that’s what he is nevertheless.

He is one of that breed — and they are in the GAA in their thousands, back the generations — who, even in the worst of times, stuck with his home club. In the last six fantastic seasons he has enjoyed rich dividend; perhaps, and it’s only perhaps because Nemo Rangers are raging hot favourites, and deservedly so, there is one more big pay-day. If there is, no-one will have earned it more.