Downes ready to grasp golden opportunity
And from a club perspective the loss of the 2012 AIB All-Ireland Club semi-final to Loughgiel Shamrocks was tough to take.
But if there is one period of his burgeoning career he would happily take an eraser to and wipe out completely it is the autumn of 2009. And yet it was all shaping up so promisingly after qualifying for a rare minor and senior county final double back then with Na Piarsaigh.
Downes winced: “The senior county final against Adare, they beat us 1-17 to three points! We won’t forget that in a hurry. It was an important building block, in retrospect. But that week in the club, it was tough. I was on the minor team as well and we lost a county final. The week after, we lost the senior hurling final and we lost in the intermediate football. We lost some camogie final as well.
“But it all definitely stood to us. Sure Jesus, it was haunting us all that winter. It still does really. But we were boys playing in a county final. We kind of got on a roll at the time but Adare were on a really good streak and they completely blitzed us altogether.
“But definitely it was character building and we came back stronger, much stronger.”
It was textbook phoenix from the flames stuff. Within five years, Na Piarsaigh had captured two senior county titles and two Munster crowns.
Their provincial final defeat of Sixmilebridge late last year was particularly impressive as they knocked 4-14 past the Clare champions. The stakes and the level of competition will both rise significantly on Saturday when they take on the might of Portumna for a place at Croke Park on March 17.
If there is a fear among supporters it is that they went into their last semi-final, two years ago, in equally positive mood before being surprisingly beaten by Loughgiel Shamrocks.
Downes recalled: “They got a run on us that day and we never really got into it as much as we should have. We weren’t prepared properly, looking back. Not that we weren’t prepared physically but it was a new challenge altogether for us at Parnell Park, to play in an All-Ireland semi-final. So maybe we weren’t fully prepared for what was in store. But hopefully we are now.”
Powerful forward Downes is happy with his own game. He was frustratingly held in reserve as an impact substitute by Limerick manager John Allen last summer.
An optimist by nature, the 23-year old pointed out that it meant he was particularly fresh when the club reached the business end of the club championship.
The team as a whole took some time to get going though. He said: “We would have been struggling for form for a while there, not hitting the peak of our powers really. We felt every day we went out we were improving that little bit, which was good.
“But we were probably lucky to get out of Limerick without, we felt, playing as well as we could. There’s no room for error now and we have to be on top of our game against Portumna.”
Damien Quigley replaced Downes late on in their provincial final win, an incredible achievement for a forty-something player. It remains to be seen if he’s utilised against Portumna. Downes smiled: “Obviously he’s Na Piarsaigh’s only All Star. He’s 42 years of age now and you see him doing runs at training and he’s still up the top. His skill is unbelievable. He’s an inspiration to everyone. It’s incredible really the way he’s going and what shape he’s in for the age he is. He’s a massive influence in the club.”
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