Eoin Downey: 'There's no point in dwelling on the past, just use it as fuel and push on to the future'

FUEL FOR FUTURE: Pictured at the launch of the Electric Ireland GAA Higher Education Championships is UCC’s Eoin Downey. This season, through its #FirstClassRivals campaign, Electric Ireland will spotlight players from across the Championships in the Electric Ireland ‘Player POV’ series and continue to celebrate the unique alliances that form between county rivals as they come together in pursuit of some of the most coveted titles across GAA. Picture: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

In the hunt for a patsy, Eoin Downey was an easy quarry.

Sent off and conceding a penalty when Cork were still in touching distance in last July's All-Ireland final, the full-back was always going to take the brunt of the blame when Tipperary won.

But that wasn’t enough. The baying mob cried out for more and so the fictional tale of he and his brother involving themselves in a half-time row was cultivated as the real reason for Cork’s sharp second-half demise.

The misguided theorists led themselves and others to believe Pat Ryan wanted to substitute the younger Downey sibling after he had picked up a yellow card when it was downright false. “It never entered our heads once to take Eoin off,” Ryan later said.

Enough water has passed under the bridge for Downey to smile about the shitetalk. “It's funny to look back at now because I'm so over the whole situation,” says the 22-year-old. “But it wasn't funny at the time. It was a bit strange if anything.

“But looking back at it now, it is quite funny because I'm over the whole day and the whole occasion and looking back on that I just think it... it just came out of nowhere and was complete nonsense so I was kind of just laughing away at it now.” 

Afterwards, Downey was more occupied by what had happened on the field than the conjecture. “That really didn't come into my head at all, all those rumours that were going around. I had other things in my head. Being sent off in general and losing an All-Ireland final. I didn't really care too much about any rumours going around because I knew in my own head they weren't true.

“What's the point in dwelling on something that was not true? No, that, to be honest, took absolutely nothing out of me. I didn't care because it wasn't true. It was other things on my mind that would have taken its toll on me, such as losing the All-Ireland final and being sent off.” 

There’s no question Downey’s second yellow card for the 54th minute penalty was harsh in context of John McGrath nudging and dragging him before the ball came their way.

“I just remember the ball coming in and I just remember feeling him behind me, I just felt his hand kind of behind me. Look, he caught the ball. It's gone now, I don't think about it. From my memory, he caught the ball and it went so fast that all of a sudden I was sent off.” 

Downey was shaping up for the sliotar to be delivered either side of their dual, not head on. “I was more imagining a lateral ball out to either side. Or even just directly in front of me.

“I just wasn't expecting a high ball coming in like that. Because I can't remember who hit it in (Eoghan Connolly) but I'm fairly sure that person was on his own, just striking the ball in and I just didn't think a high ball was going to come in. So, I got out in front of him, was expecting to go left or right, just beat him out to the ball, as a defender would do.” 

The whole episode is not something Downey has yet to discuss with Cork’s new performance coach Gerry Hussey but he expects it will be addressed in the future.

“I've moved on, to be honest. Now, I have no doubt it might come up, but it doesn't linger with me anymore, do you know what I mean? So, I won't be bringing it up on purpose.

“But look, it was a tough challenge to face, being sent off in an All-Ireland final at 22 years of age. I just think that it has to be used as fuel for the coming year, and can't be used as a negative.

“I think if I just put it that way, I'd only be going backwards. So, there's no point in dwelling on the past, just use it as fuel and push on to the future.” 

Just as it is important for Downey and his team-mates not to be consumed by that second half display, although he is confident they won’t. “It's very important but I don't even think that comes into any of our heads. That's not the way we think. We don't think that one 35-minute period defines us as a group or as a team.” 

At the same time, they can’t just ignore it. Downey mentions the negatives of the period. “I suppose being able to adapt,” he expands. “We didn't really adapt to their sweeper too well. So maybe adaptability in general is something that we might just have to work on. I suppose working through chaos is what we would refer to.” 

*Eoin Downey was speaking at the launch of the Electric Ireland GAA Higher Education Championships. This season, through its #FirstClassRivals campaign, Electric Ireland will spotlight players from across the championships in the Electric Ireland ‘Player POV’ series.