The day Shane made a name for himself

Shane Nolan can still hear the words manager James McCarthy whispered in his ear before being introduced as a 47th minute substitute in last Sunday’s Cork SFC final against Duhallow.

“Now is the chance for you to make a name for yourself. Just make a name for yourself,” demanded McCarthy, before issuing a customary thump on the back. Ten minutes later, Nolan had accomplished the mission set by McCarthy.

Trailing by a point with the game slipping away, the 22-year-old fisted a ball to the net and then, “all hell broke loose.”

“All year at training it was emphasised strongly that, if a ball dropped short, someone was to go in and try and get a flick on it or a punch,” he explained of his memorable intervention.

Mark Collins, who had just scored two great points before that, went for another that would have tied the game at 0-8 apiece, but Nolan knew it wasn’t going to clear the crossbar.

“Well I knew straight away when he kicked it that it didn’t have enough on it,” he recalled. “I hadn’t a clue where anyone was, my man or the goalkeeper. I was just watching the ball and I got lucky enough with the touch. I’m not the tallest guy around!”

But there was little chance to celebrate: “There was still plenty of time left, so my first reaction was to get up and sprint back to my man to try and stop a fast kick-out because they had the extra man as well. It wasn’t until the game was over really that it began to sink in.

For Nolan, winning a senior county medal for a club where he described the sport as a “religion” was a dream come true.

“It was unbelievable to win because it was looking dodgy before the end with all the pressure we were under. Anything could have happened there in the finish. Páidi (Hurley) made a great save and our backs were under pressure, it looked like Donncha O’Connor was going to get a goal there too when he went through but luckily it went a bit over. When the final whistle went, all hell broke loose. It was just an amazing feeling. I was looking for my father (who was doing the commentary on C103) but I couldn’t find him anywhere!”

Nolan’s story is an interesting one. Well documented by now is his rise from team mascot from the 1994 County-winning team trained by his father Jim to senior county final match-winner, but not so much his formative years with the club, Valley Rovers.

With the Rovers, he won two county medals (Intermediate A in 2008 and Premier Intermediate a year later). They played senior for the first time in their history in 2010 but were relegated back to Premier intermediate two years later. “I still feel like I left Valleys down in a way — the year I left there were a load of people going away and stuff,” he reasoned.

“The reason I decided to go was because, growing up, I was always down there in Castlehaven and going to football matches. Moving had nothing to do with Valleys and I have the greatest respect for everyone there but it was always my ambition to play football for Castlehaven. All my childhood I used to support Castlehaven but I played underage football and hurling with my friends in Valley Rovers. I thought I’d never transfer to be honest. It was a very hard decision to make, but once I made my decision, I had to just go and do it. I found it very tough at the start but quickly settled. Little did I think 12 months later I would be playing in a Cork senior football final.

“The last week has been surreal,” said the final year Finance student, what with celebrations, job interviews, while fine-tuning preparations for an assault on the Munster Club championship, starting against Limerick champions Drom-Broadford tomorrow. “It has been a crazy week, one I will not forget for a while.”