LIVING and working as a stockbroker in Dublin, Killian Clarke has found himself largely removed from much of the pre-match banter in the build-up to tomorrow’s Ulster Championship showdown with Monaghan.
It’s a new experience for the Cavan captain. Born and bred in the village of Shercock, right on the border between the two counties, Clarke is used to being in the thick of things any time a big derby clash comes around.
“I’m probably missing out on the craic a wee bit, or that buzz around the place.
“The last few years I’ve been working with the county board doing Cul Camps and that and it’s in your ear 24/7.
“When I started working down in Dublin, I actually had to sit a few of them down and explain the rules of Gaelic football. That’s the kind of environment I’m in now.”
Coming up through the ranks at underage, he remembers Tommy Freeman coming to the club to hand out end of year medals. Not a current star of the Breffni blues, but one of the Farney’s finest.
As a teenager, Clarke went to Patrician High School in Carrickmacross, learning his trade behind enemy lines. Yet there was never any question of divided loyalties – around Shercock, you are Cavan to the core.
Take this chance encounter with a current member of Malachy O’Rourke’s panel and you soon get Clarke’s drift.
“I remember Stephen Gollogly taught me in the high school in Carrick for a while. I was only 15 or so I’d say, and he must’ve only been out of college at the time. I think he was a sub, and he came in to cover for an English teacher from memory.
“I knew he was a Monaghan footballer, and we thought this was the best thing ever - take the piss out of the Monaghan boy for a while here!
“Funnily enough I actually ended up marking him in a League match a few years later, but it never came up.”
The pair may not renew acquaintances tomorrow, with the experienced Gollogly a peripheral figure with the Farneymen these days.
Regardless, Clarke is likely to have his hands full as Cavan come up against an inside forward line boasting the combined talents of Conor McManus, Jack McCarron and Conor McCarthy.
Heading into his fifth Championship campaign in charge, O’Rourke’s men look potentially more potent that at any other stage during his reign – the experienced campaigners with two Anglo-Celts already in the bag merging seamlessly with the new breed, eager to follow their lead.
The Breffnimen, meanwhile, are at the start of a rebuilding process under Mattie McGleenan after five years with Terry Hyland.
The Lacken man brought so many of the current crop through at underage level, there was an understandable sadness when he decided to move on.
Typically humble, Hyland felt it the time as right for a new voice to come in and re-energise this talented group of players.
“Terry’s been very good to me through the years, he gave me my debut when I was 17 which was a big call by him and he stuck it out with me.
“I wouldn’t have a bad word to say about him, he’s an absolute gent. A bit of an ignorant dog now, don’t get me wrong,” says Clarke, laughing, “but he’s an absolute gent underneath it all
“A few of the boys just thought we needed a different voice. Terry was disappointed the way the thing worked out in the end and we just said we’d shuffle the deck a wee bit and see how we get on.
“Hopefully it pays dividends.”
Perhaps the last straw for Hyland was last summer’s hugely disappointing Ulster semi-final replay defeat to Tyrone.
The Red Hands had developed a knack of doing just enough to get past the Breffnimen during Hyland’s reign, beating them by two during the League last year before winning by five in the Division Two final.
After a late, late David Givney goal saw them snatch a barely-deserved draw at a rain-lashed Clones, the Cavan manager and players decided something different was required next time.
Instead of essentially mirroring Tyrone’s counter-attacking style, the Breffnimen pushed up hard and attempted to force Mickey Harte’s men into mistakes high up the field.
While their bravery is to be admired, the experiment failed spectacularly as the Red Hands romped to a 5-18 to 2-17 victory.
“It was nearly like an U14 match, running from end to end,” recalls Clarke.
“It was a gamble, it didn’t work out, but that’s the way it goes. It was very disappointing losing but, from a team point of view, I thought we showed a bit of courage to actually go out and attack the game.
“We could’ve sat back and absorbed them and said ‘yeah, no bother, Cavan’s a great team, we’re after holding Tyrone to two points for a fifth consecutive time’, or we could really go out and attack the game.
“It’s something we felt might work, because they were expecting us to sit back, but when you’re giving away cheap ball and getting turned over high up the field, there was oceans of space for them to run into.”
Derry landed the knockout blow a fortnight later, but it was Tyrone who had left them propped up on the ropes.
Clarke is confident there are no psychological scars left from their last Ulster experience as they prepare to welcome Monaghan to Kingpan Breffni Park tomorrow.
With former Red Hand forward McGleenan the man behind the wheel, there were signs towards the end of the League that the Breffni boys were beginning to move in the right direction.
Relegation wasn’t part of the plan – Cavan had waited long enough to get back up with the boys after all – but beating All-Ireland finalists Mayo in Castlebar and drawing with Kerry has sent them into summer with a spring in their step.
And as a proud son of Shercock living in exile, Clarke would love nothing more than to get one over on the auld enemy tomorrow afternoon.
“This last few years, since they beat us at Clones in 2013, Monaghan have really pushed on and got their rewards with their two Ulster titles.
“During the League they put in massive performances against the Dubs and down in Kerry, and that’s maybe something we’ve been missing – putting in that big performance on the day when we really need it.
“But, on their day, most teams in Ulster can beat most teams in Ulster. If we bring the intensity we showed against Mayo and maybe the first half against Tyrone, we know what we’re capable of.
“There’s things we need to improve on, we know that, but we believe in ourselves and what we can do and hopefully we can show that on Sunday.”
