Bigger tests await cool Forde

AS ALL-IRELAND U21-winning celebrations go, Colin Forde’s can be ranked as mild.

There were no wild scenes for the Galway captain in the aftermath of lifting the Clarke Cup in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon.

Instead his focus switched to turning up in Belfield this morning to commence his third year physiotherapy exams.

“If someone could have put a call in to one or two of my lecturers in UCD I’d have appreciated it but I didn’t really think that was going to happen,” laughs the Killererin player. “Unfortunately I had to ease off the celebrations. I am in third year so it’s getting serious now with final year next year.”

Sunday was still a day to savour. The 2-16 to 1-9 win marked Forde’s last day in the underage intercounty ranks and he leaves with an outstanding record in those grades, having also been part of the All-Ireland minor-winning team in 2007.

That experience four years ago was of immense benefit to him against Cavan on Sunday.

“We came to the conclusion that we’d be more confident than Cavan. I don’t mean that as any disrespect but we’d been here before. The build up for us was very low key.

“The minor was probably a bigger deal at the time and this game didn’t overwhelm anyone.”

Replicating those feats at senior level will be an arduous task but Forde feels he and some of his team-mates are ready to have a stab at a higher grade.

“There are three of us in at the moment; myself, Danny Cummins and Jonathan Duane. If you look back at the 2005 and 2002 U21-winning teams an enormous amount of them have made the step up.

“That is extraordinary because underage success often doesn’t translate into senior players. I am thinking of Gary Sice, Cormac Bane, Michael Meehan and Sean Armstrong. Now we still have a lot to do and a lot to learn. But we are confident that we will be representing Galway.”

Despite the perception that the Galway senior setup is at a low ebb following their relegation from the league’s top tier, Forde argues there is still plenty of grounds for optimism.

“I think those stories have been greatly exaggerated. We knew there have always been good footballers in Galway and Sunday proved that. We finished the league strongly and I have to say it is the most welcoming atmosphere I have ever experienced.”

Forde, along with his U21 team-mates Tomas Fahy and Michael Boyle, have witnessed at first hand what is required to make that transition to senior level. Growing up in Killererin they were schooled in football by stalwarts such as the Joyces (Pádraic, Tommie and Nicky) and Alan Keane. “We are the second smallest parish in Galway but we punch above our weight at senior level and have won four county titles in the last 10 years. We are fortunate that we have had brilliant, inspirational figures when we were growing up. You couldn’t ask for better mentors.”