McCarthy grasps shot at glory

OPPORTUNITY knocks at the strangest of times. In June 2006, Ronan McCarthy’s football days came to an end after Douglas crashed out of the fourth round of the Cork SFC against Duhallow.

He’d first togged out for the Douglas top-level adult outfit in 1991, soldiering through the intermediate ranks until they won the county crown against Castletownbere in 1997. A nine-year senior career had been uninterrupted with success and that Duhallow loss proved the parting shot.

The natural inclination was to enjoy some time in the retirement suite, with thoughts of a coaching gig another few years off. But then an opportunity arose, and regardless of it being unexpected or unplanned, it was there to be grasped.

“The management team that had been with Douglas in 2006 finished up after that year,” recalls McCarthy. “The position came up for grabs and I was asked would I do it. As a player it was something I always wanted to do but I didn’t see it happening this quickly. All these things have a natural timing though. What’s meant for you, won’t pass you by. I’ve a young family and in a couple of years time I might not have been in the position to do it. The key thing is I wanted to do it.”

He had the essential ingredients in desire and enthusiasm but there were other thorny complications to contend with. The players that he had toiled with on the training fields, were now the same bunch he was tasked with overseeing. The task of selecting some players and dropping others was sometimes tough.

“There has to be integrity in the decisions you make. Some of my best friends are players on the panel, including my own brother Conor, and I’ve played with nearly all of them. What’s been important is that our management team try to make as much of an effort as possible to make the right decisions. We put hours into all the decisions we make — selection, tactics, logistics, organisation. I think players then accept it if you’ve put thought into it, and it’s not on a whim. We’ve made genuine decisions and it hasn’t really been an issue.”

From the outside, his freshman year looked a sobering experience. Douglas entered 2007 armed with big plans and grand ambitions. A one-point loss to Castlehaven in the first round, a two-point defeat to Ilen Rovers in the second round and suddenly the grim spectre of relegation had raised its head. The problems worsened when Carbery Rangers defeated them in the opening relegation match and they needed to grind out wins over St Vincent’s and St Finbarr’s to save their skin. Yet amidst all the darkness, McCarthy picked out bright aspects.

“I did feel last year that the players had shown a tremendous resilience to come out of the situation. They could’ve folded up the tents and caved in like Douglas teams in the past, but they didn’t. All clubs go through bad times, the key is to keep working and doing the right things.

“There was never a question mark over the years over our ability. But there was a question mark over commitment and did we have genuine character when our backs were to the wall. They proved they had the goods from that point of view. The one thing that relegation does, and I made this clear to the players last year, is that there’s no point staying up senior if you’re not going to make a go of it. We’re up 10 years and we really hadn’t done anything. We got to a semi-final in 2003 but didn’t really perform on the day. No point staying up but just going through the motions.”

This year they have cranked up their input and basked in the output that has followed. A winning run that originated with Clonakilty, stretched to Naomh Abán and Ballincollig before culminating in the semi-final success over Ilen Rovers, has seen them on the cusp of a historic and prized county final success this Sunday. McCarthy himself is the only Douglas man with experience of county final day, having lost the 1996 decider, while playing with UCC, against Clonakilty. But this time it is different.

Thinking back to the days when Douglas struggled, like the period from 1985 to 1992, when they lost the intermediate first round every year, he knows this must be relished.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’m delighted for all the people who’ve worked hard in the club, especially when there’s no success. People have to understand that there is no pressure for our players relative to what they went through last year. This is a very nice pressure and we’re really looking forward to giving it our best.”