Gardiner: we live for the moment

WHEN I pull up outside Right Choice Mortgages outside Tuam, to meet up with flying Mayo wing-back Peadar Gardiner, there’s a big sweeper of a Mercedes and a gleaming new BMW 520 parked near the entrance.

Perhaps talk of a downturn in mortgages and life assurance sales are greatly exaggerated? I give him a call.

“Are one of those big wagons yours?” I ask.

He laughs down the phone.

“I wish. No, I am back at the house to get ready for training. Call over. You’ll see a brown Honda Civic, with a MO number plate, not a Merc, in the driveway.”

Gardiner off the field is a mirror image of what he is on it. Neat. Tidy. Fast. Decisive. Efficient. And ambitious in what he wants to achieve.

Three years ago he was in a good job with ACC bank but he and his business partner, Tuam Stars club manager Alan Flynn, decided to go it alone and set up their own business.

“I had worked in ACC in Ballina and Tuam for a good few years. However myself and Alan went out on our own in 2006 to step up a brokerage business. We were putting our heads together for awhile and spent a few lunch times planning before we went for it. Basically we provide independent financial advice. Obviously it is a tough climate to work in now, but we are sticking in there.”

Can’t be easy in the teeth of a recession?

“Things are very tough out there for people and many people are very nervous about their job security. There is no confidence at the moment. The lack of job security is a key factor. It is a great time to buy, but people have no confidence to take the plunge. And the way things are, who could blame them.”

Gardiner has seen the highs and lows of life first-hand in a sporting context. In 2001 Crossmolina won the All-Ireland club title, beating Nemo in the final, but it took him three years to get established on the Mayo senior team. When that happened it was John Maughan who showed genuine faith in him.

“I have been on different panels under Pat Holmes, John Maughan, Mickey Moran and now John O’Mahony. It was John Maughan who gave me a great opportunity to play with Mayo. He had great trust in me and gave me a few games to get established.

“It is never easy to break into a county team. You need four or five games in a row and a manager to support you and believe in you, and John did that and gave me my first chance. It is something I will always appreciate.”

Gardiner was an ever-present in the Maughan years and played in both the 2004 and 2006 All-Ireland finals. Indeed he was team captain in 2007 and 2008 and yet both years went horribly wrong for him.

“When John O’Mahony came in the morale of the whole panel was sky high. Unfortunately I was subbed off in 2007 in a few games which was very disappointing for me personally, and to make it worse it was not a good summer for Mayo either.

“Then I broke my jaw in April 2008 and it was tough to get back in. It was disappointing for me again, but my form was below what it needed to be. It was a big blow not to make the team for the Connacht final against Galway, but I kept the head down and kept going and got back for the qualifiers against Tyrone.

“If football teaches you one thing, it’s that you have to keep your head down and keep plugging. If you give it everything you have, that will make a difference. I give it my best shot every time I tog out. I’ll always do that because I enjoy it so much. That is the bottom line. I love training, the banter and I love playing for Mayo.

“I consider myself very lucky to have played with and continue to play with Mayo. I know we have lost some big matches, and you are gutted by that, but I wouldn’t change my choice of playing with Mayo or Crossmolina for the world.

“The friends you make via college, county and club are friends for life. Like, I have played with Trevor since we were minors and we have lived in the same house for a few years now and even though he supports Liverpool, and I’m a Man United supporter we get on brilliantly and always have.”

Tomorrow Mayo face Meath again in championship and it brings back memories of a famous row 13 years ago, but for Gardiner such talk is immaterial.

“1996 is completely irrelevant to both teams. Meath are moving well and have won a few games on the trot, so we will have to be at our best to beat them. The only thing that matters is trying to get into the All-Ireland semi-final. Playing Kerry would represent a totally different challenge for either Meath or Mayo, but neither side is looking past this Sunday first.

“All you can look at is what is immediately ahead of you. It is dangerous to start dreaming of anything else. Tomorrow is a massive game for us. No doubt Meath will throw the kitchen sink at us and we will do likewise, so it should go down to the wire. It is guaranteed that no side will die and all we can do is get ourselves right for the challenge that is ahead. One step at a time is the only way to win anything.”

At 29, time is pressing on for Gardiner to try and win a coveted All-Ireland medal with Mayo. If the gods do not smile on him and that objective is not achieved, would it be a major regret?

“To be honest, it is not something I think about. If I finish my career without having won an All-Ireland with Mayo I would be frustrated and disappointed. (But) the only thing I am focused on right now is trying to do our absolute best on Sunday. The last seven or eight years have been a roller coaster and it has been fantastic on some days and devastating on other days. But you cannot change the past and you must look forward.

“The Mayo supporters are terrific fans and they come out in big numbers to support their team and we will be doing our best for them and ourselves. You have to live in the moment and that is what we as a team are doing. The only objective we have is to win tomorrow. It is a huge game for us.”