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 John McCarthy Interview The Evening Echo | |||
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Eamonn Murphy reports on the Evening Echo County Senior Hurling Final
Age - 33
It would have easy to bid adieu on the back of captaining his tiny
village to the All-Ireland club title in 2004. He lead the club in their
ascension from the intermediate ranks in '96 to the ultimate club prize, and into
his 30s and perhaps weary from farming, work and play on the hurling field,
most thought he would bow out.
While Morrissey, Pat Mul and the twins represent the glamorous
intercounty branch of the club's success, John McCarthy represents the roots.
Unspectacular maybe, but distinguishable in his berth in the corner of
the inside line; stocky, balding and with a laidback demeanour, his reading
of the play and dogged leadership marked him out as of Newtown's key
players.
The commitment demanded and the success achieved would have offered
McCarthy reason to bow out at the top. But after working the dairy farm at home,
commuting to the city for his office job and intense training for a
decade,he's managed to become battle hardened rather than battle weary.
So he's still soldiering (albeit in a more reduced role as an impact
sub) with a nagging feeling that they need to win another title.
"I've realised how much we have to prove. This team has only won two
counties and you'd want to be winning more than two to go down as a
great side.
"Well say if you look at Midleton as the last truly great Cork club
team,they won four counties; we're going to have to go toward matching them.
We need to win at least one more to say we really had an era of
dominance."
Despite being part of one of one of the most romantic tales in club
hurling,John is a realist above all else. This time his parish are the
favourites and their opponents will carry the support of much of the county, but
he feels Newtown need to really cement their status.
"Cork city and East Cork would certainly be the home of the hurling, and
I can understand that everyone will be rooting for Cloyne as it's more of
a fairytale story, but we've got our own history to write. I'd hate to
look back and think we won two counties and one All-Ireland and that was it.
I'm not sure how you define an 'era', but I don't think what you have is
enough to call it an 'era'.
"That's what next Sunday is about for us as much as anything else."
Surely he's worried that his side have struggled to recover from the
comedown after the mountaineering of '03-'04, that any climb to the top
now would be more Carrauntoohil than Everest?
"To be honest we've found if very difficult to get the buzz back after
the highs of being in Croke Park, the edge just hasn't been there in the
dressing room. You're sitting there thinking 'sure we'll get over these
games.' When we got to the Park for the Barrs game it was the back doubt
in the back of my mind, 'is it there?' And what was so great about winning
the semi, was not just to get to the final, but to see that the quality is
still there.
"In local games you have difficulty getting away from that challenge
game atmosphere; when you've no real nerves before a game there's something
wrong as fear can sometimes drive you, and it's only when you get to the big
stage you realise how much is at stake.
"The thing now is to dig deep and get that urgency and focus going for
the county final. If we can do that then we've a great chance.
"We've possibly a better panel now than the year we won the All-Ireland
with Jerry O'Mahony, Cathal Naughton, and Dermot Gleeson. In personnel we're
definitely improving when you consider we won an U16 county final, so
it'll make it easier for me to slowly fade into the night."
Talk of eras or not, is there not a fear that Newtown's time have passed
and it Cloyne's destiny to win this year?
"It could very well be there year. Cloyne have probably been on the
tougher side without a doubt, and we hadn't pushed ourselves that hard early on
in the year. It's a bit like Tyrone with their tough run standing to them,
but hopefully we won't meet the same fate as Kerry."
Whatever happens Sunday does he have a highlights from a career of
highs?
"Blackrock were the dragon that had to be slayed for us. They were also
a really great club side and I'd still look at that 2003 win as my
favourite game, over the Munster or All-Ireland or any of them. They were the
team that had to be played after beating us in the final in 2002, and being
the best side in Cork. The funny thing was the team was so confident in the
dressing room before that one, we should have been feeling the pressure
not to lose two in a row, but we really felt we were going to do it."
The big question for the final is whether Newtown's extra experience or
Cloyne's determination to take the final step will swing the balance of
the tie. John has been on both sides, and can't offer an easy answer.
"Even putting up bunting for Cork's All-Ireland final this year it was
almost done in a haphazard way and the build-up to the Barrs game was
very low key, it was like any other game. Even coming into the final week
before this final, it's hard to say how we'll be fixed. You can imagine what
it'll be like down in Cloyne, it'll be manic, absolutely manic. I really
don't know which the better position to be in is."
Sunday will provide the answer and prove to John if it really is the
'Newtown era'.
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