Football

Gunning for double glory

Glen's Paul Gunning in action against Scotstown. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
Glen's Paul Gunning in action against Scotstown. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin Glen's Paul Gunning in action against Scotstown. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin

IT feels like every week is a big week for Glen now, but to Paul Gunning’s racing mind, this is a territory he could never have envisaged.

Gunning has led the line brilliantly for the club’s footballers this season, playing the best football of his career as the Watties claimed a first ever county title and are now 60 minutes from an Ulster final.

Sunday afternoon’s eagerly-anticipated semi-final against Kilcoo will be occupying every thought of every soul in Maghera this week, but Gunning has to try and balance his thinking.

On Saturday, he and his father Sean will be on the line with Roisin Molloy taking the club’s camogs as they bid to reach their own All-Ireland final.

Having won the Ulster junior title at the expense of Randalstown last weekend, Glen camogs now face Leinster champions Raharney for a place in the decider.

That will take place at Abbottstown on Saturday afternoon and caps a busy few months for the 26-year-old, who helped the club dance their way to an All-Ireland Scór final that he then couldn’t attend because of his football commitments.

He and footballing team-mate Eunan Mulholland missed out on dancing in the new dome in Bekan as they had their Ulster Club preliminary round tie against St Eunan’s early the following afternoon.

Gunning and his cousin Laura McCloskey are among those with a boxful of county and Ulster medals from Ceili Dancing – “we think it’s nine-in-a-row Derry titles” – and won an All-Ireland in 2018.

Then there’s the day job too, teaching in St Colmcille’s Primary School in Claudy, where he hopes to dig into a bit of coaching if games get started up after Christmas.

Where to start with all that?

Sunday and Monday were spent analysing the camogs’ Ulster final win over Tír na nÓg. He had Monday night off and then camogie Tuesday and Thursday, with football training Wednesday and tonight.

Tomorrow he’ll be in Abbottstown and on Sunday it’s Armagh for the biggest games the club has ever had in either code.

“A lot of people see it as a distraction but I don’t,” he says.

“Say you’re getting ready for the county final, you’d spend all week thinking about the football.

“I wouldn’t say I’m not thinking about the football, but it’s nearly healthy for me to be preparing for the camogie.

“You’re getting ready for a game of football but you’re not sitting up at night worrying about the what ifs. For me, getting away and taking camogie training is a very healthy release. You’re just trying to marry both worlds.

“There’s a healthy balance there. Usually we’re balancing having one set of lights on the top field, so the two teams are never training at the same time.

“The usual routine is the footballers are out Tuesday and Thursday night at 7.30pm, and we have the camogs on the pitch from 6 until 7.15pm. I just pull the trousers off, shorts on, hop over the fence and into the football.”

Gunning’s exposure to top-level coaching has helped guide him into management with the camogs. He played Sigerson Cup football under Paddy Tally at St Mary’s – where he was part of the panel that lost the 2019 final to UCC - and is now taking direction from Malachy O’Rourke and Ryan Porter on the football field.

“Malachy’s fantastic at the minute, but we’ve had fantastic coaches right through from U14. The brilliance of Enda in our minor years was huge. Fergal P McCusker, Jude Donnelly was fantastic, Paddy Murray alongside him.

“Malachy and Ryan Porter, we can’t speak highly enough of them. To be exposed to such brilliant managers is such an asset. If I can take anything from them and be able to transfer it to camogie, it’s brilliant.”

While he was never coached by Mickey Moran himself, he did have Mickey’s son Antoin at U8 and U10.

Gunning’s father was recounting to him earlier this week how Moran imparted so much knowledge upon the coaches who helped bring this generation through in Glen.

The 1993 All-Ireland winning coach is set to go up against his native club on Sunday.

“I was chatting to Daddy last night and he was saying about how when he was starting out as a coach at underage, it was Mickey everyone referred to and he was like the coach of the coaches. He was giving his expertise and knowledge to the men who ended up coaching our teams.

“Daddy said he remembers Mickey being at the pitch taking basically training sessions for the coaches, giving his knowledge and they could go forward with that.”

Kilcoo only seems like a challenge until you read up on the exploits of Raharney camogs, whom Glen face today.

They won their Leinster junior ‘A’ final against Celbridge’s second team by 8-14 to 0-2, having beaten Portlaoise by 6-16 to 0-0 in the quarter-final.

Naomh Bríd of Offaly did run them close in the semi-final and it’s hard to gauge too much from a bare scoreline but regardless, it’s an All-Ireland semi-final and Glen haven’t had too many of those.

Recent winters have involved being sat in at the TV looking at the floodlights on every night out the road in Slaughtneil.

“People might think there’s better things to be at the week of Christmas than playing football, but I can’t think of anything. There’s such a buzz about the place.

“I was making the comment after the camogie victory that it’s been so heartwarming to see grown men and women brought to tears with sheer happiness.

“People were walking about 10-foot high after the football final and I was saying to the girls that they’re having the same effect on the ladies and girls and the elder generation in the club.

“The goal has been to give them that feeling for one more week, that’s huge. That’s the effect we’ve focussed on in the football too.

“We were on such a high after the county final, the objective was to go and win our first game in Ulster.

“We were so happy after the St Eunan’s game, everybody was so pleased we’d made that step, and the focus was building on that and having everyone so happy again in two weeks’ time after the Scotstown game.

“The buzz about the club, the pitch, has been fantastic since.”

It had been the presence of Brendan Rogers and Ballinascreen trio Carlus McWilliams, Sean and Paul Woods at Irish dancing that convinced him to return in his mid-teens after dropping out.

His mother Katey was an All-Ireland Ceili dancing winner herself in the 1980s, while his father Sean is a former Derry GAA PRO and a converted Glen man been hurler and footballer with neighbours Swatragh.

Paul missed the All-Ireland Scór final, which was a carry-over of the 2020 competition, just as tomorrow afternoon’s camogie semi-final is.

From being on the line there, he and the rest of the Glen men will put it all on the line against Kilcoo.

By the time Paul Gunning’s head hits the pillow on Sunday night, he’ll be ready for it.