Determination and education Clancy’s winning formula

As Cork head for Killarney on Sunday to take on the might of Kerry in the Munster SFC final, there are surely two very proud parents over in Grange, just outside Fermoy.

Why? Because on the field for Cork will be Tomás Clancy, as personable and as talented a youngster as any parent could ever wish for. He’s a first-class student, “Just finished my Chemistry degree, staying on for another four years to do the PhD,” but of course there’s a lot more to Tomás than study.

He’s a footballer par excellence, a tight-marking defender who has tasted the potential glamour of the forwards but rejects it. He’s also humble, knows how lucky he is to be where he is and is suitably grateful, to his parents in the first place, to his club and college thereafter.