Football

Ryan Magill happy to answer club and county call as Burren roll on

Last year's county final defeat to Kilcoo was Ryan Magill's first at senior level, and he will be hoping to help the St Mary's back to that stage again. Picture by Philip Walsh
Last year's county final defeat to Kilcoo was Ryan Magill's first at senior level, and he will be hoping to help the St Mary's back to that stage again. Picture by Philip Walsh Last year's county final defeat to Kilcoo was Ryan Magill's first at senior level, and he will be hoping to help the St Mary's back to that stage again. Picture by Philip Walsh

RYAN Magill didn’t have time to labour on the disappointment of last year’s county final defeat, the joys of being a man in demand for club and county quickly providing fresh focus – and the Burren teenager wouldn’t have it any other way.

The swashbuckling wing-back was a key player as the Down U20s swept to the 2021 Ulster title, and months later found himself marking one of the men who masterminded that triumph, Conor Laverty, as Burren clashed with Kilcoo in the Down decider.

Laverty - who has since taken on the county senior job - and Mickey Moran’s Magpies came up trumps that day, landing the Frank O’Hare Cup for the ninth time in 10 years, but the world kept turning for Magill.

Soon the 19-year-old was back into U20 action, and earlier this year made his Ulster Championship debut in defeat to Monaghan. Losing on county final day is never easy, but Magill insists there was no prolonged hangover as Kilcoo went on to claim Ulster and All-Ireland honours.

“Not really because we were straight into U20 football, we won at U20 championship with Burren and then straight into playing for Down, both U20s and senior,” he said.

“You have to lick your wounds and get going again. There’s no point dwelling on it, you just have to go again and work twice as hard as you did last year because we know where we went wrong.

“That was my first year at senior, I probably haven’t got a break in three or four years, but that’s what you want. I’m still 19, you want to be playing football every day.

“Ever since I was five I’ve just played football every day, so I’m happy to jump from team to team – happy to help Burren, happy to help Down or whoever.”

Ulster University will be added to that list in the coming months but, for now, Magill’s focus is purely on the St Mary’s as they attempt to navigate a path back to the latter stages of the Down championship.

It hasn’t been straightforward thus far, however, with extra-time required to get past the challenge of Mayobridge, while Sunday’s clash with RGU Downpatrick carried more than a whiff of jeopardy due to the severity of the conditions in Newcastle.

Rain fell in sheets at St Patrick’s Park and, with both teams managing just one point apiece by the 45 minute mark, the game hung in the balance heading towards the final quarter.

But Magill stepped up impressively as Burren managed to secure a last eight spot, his long free leading to Ryan Treanor’s crucial goal after Donal O’Hare had plucked the ball from the skies.

Then, with the game in added time, Magill found himself in the square, lashing home an unstoppable left-footed strike to kill off any late nerves.

It was the kind of day when best plans go out the window, with winning all that mattered.

“That’s probably the worst conditions I’ve played in - I played in a bad Rannafast game for the Abbey, but that’s right up there.

“On a day like that it’s more who wants it at the end, who’s ready to die on the ball. We played Mayobridge in Newry two weeks ago and we didn’t show up, we were waiting for someone to do it by themselves.

“But today we were more compact, waiting for people to go in twos and threes. We were patient, which helped us over the line in the end. Looking out there today, and of course the conditions played a big part, but there’s still simple mistakes we can work on

“That’s two out of two, but we expect the best out of us. We expect to be at the top, but we know there’s still plenty of work to do.”