It was ‘heartbreaking’ playing my old club Craobh Chiarain, says victorious McGuirk

Johnny McGuirk has admitted that taking down his former club, Craobh Chiarain, to secure a breakthrough Dublin SHC final place for St Brigid’s, was ‘heartbreaking’.

The ex-Dublin minor and U21 boss has guided Blanchardstown outfit Brigid’s to their first final since 2003, as they chase a maiden win. He was on the Croabh team in 2003 when they beat Brigid’s in that final and, 16 years on, helped the Russell Park outfit gain belated revenge on Sunday.

Brigid’s will face red-hot favourites, Cuala, in the final on Sunday week, though McGuirk said he’s still coming to terms with beating the club he represented for 15 years.

“Mentally, I had to really prepare myself to go against them,” said McGuirk, of Craobh. “We played them last year in the championship and I found it awful hard.

I was a selector at the time and I found it awful difficult. It is heartbreaking, because I’ve had years in a Chiarain jersey and I have huge pride and admiration for what they do and how they play the game.

"I had to mentally prepare for a full week, going away on my own and taking myself through scenarios, to make sure I would deal with them in the right way. It’s difficult. I was up with the Craobh lads afterwards, kind of apologising to them.”

McGuirk was a Dublin senior selector under Ger Cunningham in 2017 and is currently part of John McEvoy’s Derry senior backroom team. But it was current Craobh boss, Ger Ryan, whom McGuirk teamed up with last year, when managing the DIT freshers team.

On Sunday, they came up against each other at Parnell Park, with McGuirk coming out on top, as Brigid’s scored a rare semi-final win, 2-17 to 1-13.

“Ger is a top bloke. Apart from the last two weeks, I’d be onto him every week, discussing hurling, opposition teams, one thing or another,” said McGuirk. “We’re friends. It was very difficult.”

It’ll be Cuala’s fourth Dublin final in five seasons, having slipped up at the semi-final stage to Anthony Daly’s Kilmacud Crokes in 2018.

The 2017 and 2018 All-Ireland champions have cruised through to this year’s final and are already 6/4 favourites to regain the Leinster club title. All that is music to the ears of McGuirk, who has no problem with Brigid’s being raging underdogs.

“The last three games we’ve been underdogs — we weren’t expected to beat Jude’s, we weren’t expected to beat Na Fianna, we weren’t expected to beat Craobh,” he said. “We just say to them, ‘Hurl with freedom: it’s a game to be enjoyed, so enjoy it’.

“Between arranging training and all the tactics, there’s a lot that goes into it, but it’s still a sport, at the end of the day, that’s to be enjoyed,” McGuirk.