How soccer helped Watergrasshill's Seán Desmond find his finishing touch

ALL ROADS LEAD TO CROKER: Sean Desmond pictured ahead of the AIB GAA All-Ireland Hurling Intermediate Club Championship Final. Pic: ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

Seán Desmond’s numbers don’t speak to someone blighted by a lack of self-confidence. That’s because he’s not. Well, not anymore he’s not.

With 5-15 beside his name, Desmond has been Watergrasshill’s second leading marksman from play on the road to tomorrow’s All-Ireland intermediate club decider. Of their eight games on the road to tomorrow, there was only one - the Munster final - where his name was absent from the scoresheet.

And then there’s his Imokilly numbers. 2-12 in five games. Joint top-scorer from play on the afternoon of the division’s Premier Senior county final win. Holding his own and standing out in the finest of company.

So no, those numbers absolutely do not speak to someone held back by an absence of self-confidence.

The belief and transformation in his scoring returns stems from an unlikely source. Towards the end of 2023, and with hurling very much in off-season mode, a conversation took amongst some of the Watergrasshill players.

Each of them was playing a bit of winter soccer for different clubs in the locality. St Mary’s, Fermoy, and elsewhere. Just to keep the fitness ticking over and what have you.

Anyway, during the conversation, it was suggested and agreed that they’d all come back and line out for the junior side in Watergrasshill. If they were hurling teammates, why shouldn’t they be soccer teammates too and that sort of thing.

Desmond was handed the striker's role and started to knock them in with almost frightful frequency. In one FAI Junior Cup tie against Castleview in October of 2023, he scored all six goals as the Hill edged Castleview in a 6-5 extra-time thriller.

The Watergrasshill hurling captain uses the very simple analogy of how a rising tide lifts all boats. In this instance, it is perfectly apt for what one game did for another.

“I never really believed in myself before. I was always just kind of going through the motions,” the 23-year-old begins.

“When you are playing with your best friends and going out doing what you enjoy doing, and I managed to get the No.9 shirt on my back and go up front and finish off a few chances, it kinda gives you the confidence that yeah, you can go do it.

“I brought that to the hurling and managed to get on the scoresheet an awful lot more. It has shown in a few performances this year that when you do believe you can get over the line.

“The soccer has definitely not just been of benefit to me, it has been of benefit to an awful lot of lads. It got into a bit of a run, and everyone started to get a build off it then.

"We were winning games, having the craic, enjoying ourselves. Winning is a habit, and we just brought that into games this year and kicked on from there.”

Desmond was not long turned 22 when Eddie Enright handed him the captaincy for the 2024 season still ongoing. Even in the space of a 20-minute conversation, you can see exactly why Enright saw fit to hand the armband to someone so young.

Sean Desmond races towards goal before hitting the net for Watergrasshill. Pic: Larry Cummins

Desmond is incredibly self-aware, speaks in a most mature manner. Both attributes come across in spades when asked what family will follow him up the road on Sunday.

“I have two nephews and they're probably the biggest reason why you play. Everyone has a 'why', why you go play, and my two nephews, Donnacha (5) and Bobby (not yet 1), they're kind of my why. I love when they come to matches to see me play and they get enjoyment out of it as well.

“I get photos off my sister before games and the two boys are wearing the Hill jerseys, and there are flags and signs and everything. Look, they're nearly a part of my gear when I go to games. I just get a great kick off them and they're a massive part of it as well.

“Look, it's going to be great for everyone's families. Who would have thought, definitely around here, that you'd go up to Croke Park and see your sons playing in an All-Ireland final for the club, so it's going to be special for everyone.”

Back when uncle Seán was Bobby’s age and in the years after, the back garden was Croke Park. The makeshift posts were the Hill 16 End goals. The winning score was constantly being struck. On Sunday, a couple of months of “dreamland” results will conclude in the very real Croke Park.

“It's something I suppose you think of when you're a child or when you're out on the grass playing with your friends that, oh, I'm in Croke Park, and I'm getting the winning score or whatever.

“To be able to go up to Croke Park and to be able to go to Pairc Ui Chaoimh on county final day, and to just go and enjoy what you love doing, yeah, it's been incredible.

"But look, it's just been an incredible journey we've been on and yeah, it's probably one of the most enjoyable years of hurling I’ve ever had.”