Free-flowing Ward knows how to make an entrance

INTERCOUNTY debuts are typically more entrances with a whimper, than intrusions with a bang.

When it came to Cian Ward’s turn he opted to eschew convention and streaked across the football sky like a comet.

Two years ago he ambled onto Croke Park, thrust into the bearpit of a Dublin v Meath Leinster championship clash for his debut as a second-half substitute. The acclimatisation period was brief. Meath were awarded a ‘45 instantly and Ward gazed around wondering who would be entrusted with the kick. Peter Curran of Duleek had been on freetaking duties all day but Ward had replaced him, Brian Farrell was sitting in the stands suspended and Joe Sheridan was wrecked after a lung-bursting run. The onus was on the new guy.

“I remember being closest to the action and thinking, ‘I don’t want to kick this’ because it’s my first touch,” recalls Ward. “I was looking for Joe to come and kick it but he was tired after making a run so he just nodded at me. I couldn’t throw it to anybody else at that stage. I had to take it.”

Those initial nerves were misplaced. He stroked the ball over with the minimum of fuss and emboldened by that kick, wound up with a 0-5 haul in his first 22 minutes of championship football. The coup de grace came in injury-time, as he nonchalantly curled over a sideline kick that sent the match towards a replay.

Meath captain Anthony Moyles described his impact best afterwards, when recalling Ward’s stunning equaliser. He said: “I was actually thinking one of us should have made a little bit of run for him. But he probably wouldn’t have noticed anyway. He’s something else, he does that all the time in training.”

It was in dazzling fashion that he burst onto the national consciousness, but there was evidence that hinted at Ward’s potential. He’s always been blessed with a prodigious ability from dead ball situations. In 2004 he lit up an All-Ireland Colleges final, arrowing over six points to help St Pat’s of Navan triumph.

With his club Wolfe Tones there have been similar showstopping tales, as they enjoyed a meteoric rise from Meath junior champions in 2003 to senior victors three years later. That 2006 senior final triumph was decorated by Ward supplying 1-7 as he slotted over seven frees and fired a second-half goal that still earns rave reviews.

“The frees are just something I’ve always done really,” muses Ward. “I’ve always taken frees and I’ve always practiced them. Sometimes there’s way too much talked about it and it’s way over the top. If you take a free and miss it, you’re a villain. If you take a free and score it, you’re a hero. It’s not that simple – there’s a lick of paint in the difference sometimes.”

He rose to an elevated plateau after that senior feat in 2007, but has seen enough falls since then to appreciate the vagaries of intercounty football. Six days after that Meath Dublin game, he was a subdued presence in the replay and only mustered up a point. Tapping into consistently high standards since then has proved elusive.

“It was frustrating at the time to be back on the bench soon after. But realistically there were a lot of good footballers ahead of me. Lucky for me now a few good footballers have retired, and that’s opened the door for me. Consistency was something certainly I had to work on. I played in a few of the League games in ‘07 and my performances weren’t up to scratch. Last year in the League I was far more consistent. This year again I didn’t play well in the League, but the thing that allowed me to stay in the team was that Brian Farrell was injured and I would have been the only recognised free-taker.”

As spring morphed into summer, Ward’s play has assumed a strong rhythm once more. The qualifiers nourished his confidence levels as his frees in Páirc Tailteann and Cusack Park soared over the bar with greater frequency. When Meath moved to the Big House on Jones Road, Ward was ready to impact. As they reeled in Mayo during the second-half of their quarter-final a few weeks back, Ward’s howitzer to the net from the penalty spot was instrumental in their eventual win.

“I wanted to take that penalty. I have been established as the free-taker this year so there was no doubt who was going to take it. I’ve enough confidence in my own ability and you just want to take the bloody penalty and get on with it.

“If you were worrying about the people watching you then you haven’t really got a chance. If you kick a ball wide from there, it’s unforgivable. I don’t know how some of the soccer players miss them.”