Nugent back from the brink to help raise Banner fortunes

YOU can take it that other than being taken off in a major game, either at provincial level or in the All-Ireland series, the worst thing that can happen to any player is not to be selected in the first place.

Barry Nugent has sampled it on both fronts, but it still doesn’t lessen his enthusiasm to give his very best to the Clare hurlers. For him, it’s all about ‘the bigger picture.’

When he met with representatives of the national media a week ago, in the company of other players, he would have had no idea of the thinking of the management team in regard to the team formation. But, even with the recognition that Clare are in transition — and that he has been involved for the best part of six years since Cyril Lyons included him among an extended panel — he reckoned that there were up to nine players competing for positions in the attack alone.

And, while at that stage Niall Gilligan was regarded as extremely doubtful because of injury, his availability effectively meant that only five places were up for grabs when the selectors sat down to name the side to take on Waterford in Limerick next Sunday.

A member of the Éire Óg club and a Garda based in Galway, he made his championship debut in 2005, when Clare lost in a first-round game to Tipperary at the Gaelic Grounds. However, an injury which forced him off kept him out of action for part of the summer, although he made a return for the All-Ireland quarter-final against Wexford in Croke Park.

That was a winning appearance, but they were out of luck when losing to Cork in the semi-final.

“That was very disappointing, probably the most disappointing dressing-room I was ever in,” he recalled. “It was the fact that we had the lead for so long and Cork just chipped away and eventually came out on top. That’s the way sport is; highs and lows!”

He doesn’t hide away from the fact that his own career has been rather disjointed so far. By way of example, Clare supporters will recall the excellent start he made against Cork in the Munster semi-final in Thurles two years ago, when he hit the ground running and picked off two early points. But, between a combination of a few errors, the supply drying up and Brian Murphy getting on top, he wasn’t able to live up to his promise.

Taking a hard look at himself, he feels that ‘there is’ more in him. “I have performed in a few matches and in others I haven’t — a bit hit and miss! I suppose as long as the team is performing and you’re winning, you look at the bigger picture,” he said.

While he has played at centre forward, he’s better known as a corner forward. Interestingly, his preferred position is anywhere in the full-forward line but it goes without saying that he’s happy to play anywhere he’s selected.

Though Nugent didn’t make the cut for Clare this weekend, he was equally forthcoming in acknowledging that Clare have produced some of their best performances in recent years outside of Munster.

“That would be a negative, but at the same time you wouldn’t want to be thinking about it,” he commented. “You could say that we are under pressure to deliver against Waterford on Sunday. When you set out at the start of the year you look forward to playing in the big matches. We’d like to think we’d be able to contest the Munster and All-Irelands finals.

“If we didn’t think that way we wouldn’t go out training in the first place.”