Clarke ready to grasp his opportunity

Nothing in football has ever been assured for David Clarke.

His place on the county team. His place on the club team. Nothing.

Ever since he made the first step up in the game, starting on the Ballina U14 team as a 13-year-old during Féile, there was always something standing in his way. That year it was adult goalposts for a 5’4” goalkeeper who still had to learn the art of kicking the ball off the ground.

But through every adversity, he’s greeted it with determination. For the next few years he dedicated himself to the art of kickouts and eventually cemented his place on the team with a booming and accurate kick.

It was only the start though. He battled Fintan Ruddy through minor and U21 level for the jersey. When his club reached the All-Ireland club SFC final against Portlaoise in 2005, he held the county number one jersey but was again relegated to the bench.

His number two on the county team was his number one in the club. An agreement was reached where he and John Healy alternated the role but, as luck would have it, he missed the final.

He resumed his fight with Ruddy on the senior side for a number of years before finally claiming the spot as his own. Until Robert Hennelly came along and he picked up an injury.

One journalist asked him was it the first time he spent on the bench: “No, I have had plenty of time on the bench for club and county. It’s something you have to get on with. It’s easy to throw your hat at it and say ‘I don’t want to do this any more’. The hard thing is to keep at it. You have to have that bit of belief as well.”

That was his burning philosophy as he spent last season on sidelines. Frustrated? Yes. A quitter? No. After a lifetime of it he knew the answer was to knuckle down. He had sacrificed too much to let it all slip away. “It’s pretty much the main thing in your life,” he said of football. “It’s your life if you do it right. Between work and your family life, football has to come number one. Luckily enough the gardaí have been great and I’ve never missed a training session but you are taking cuts out of your annual leave to play. When it comes to girlfriends then you don’t have much time left for holidays.

“But no one is making you do it. It’s a choice. I want to be here. The way things are at the moment a lot of us are lucky enough to be in the country. I’ve a lot of friends who have had to leave. Like most of us though, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

Sunday will be his reward. He’s leading out the team in the absence of the injured Andy Moran and he’s determined to make the most of it.

The Hill at his back is something he’s looking forward to. The 2006 semi-final experience long forgotten.

“I’ll train this week, I’ll work this week and I’ll play a game of football at the weekend. You can talk it up or talk it down, but the reality is that it’s another game of football and we have played thousands of times. We have prepared really well, we’re looking forward to getting up to Croke Park.

“I don’t want to be playing on Ballina’s back pitch in September — you want to be in Croke Park in front of 80,000 people.”

It’s been a quiet championship for him so far though. A couple of saves against Sligo and little more.

“Our defence has been very good this year. We showed that in the league. We’re doing well and we’re not giving up goal chances. I’d rather play every game like that. I’m not looking for praise or trying to be a hero. If we can win games and not let them have a shot on goal, then all the better.”

But Dublin will test them?

“Big games might come down to one or two goal chances and if the other team takes them, you can lose. All goalkeeping training is about concentration. I suppose there has been changes because goalkeeping coaches have been brought in. Last year we were lucky enough to work with Eugene Lavin and this year we have Peter Burke in with us. Strength and conditioning are now geared to be more specific, so that has developed in the last few years.”