Derry begin their Christy Ring campaign in Ballycran this weekend and now in his seventh full season on the panel, Paul Cleary feels his side can go the whole way.
The county enjoyed Under 21 and Nicky Rackard success duuring Collie McGurk’s two years of transition and are now under the guidance of former Dublin U21 manager John McEvoy.
From the team that started the 2015 Christy Ring defeat to Kerry, only three remain on the current panel.
Alan Grant’s hip recent operation places him in the rehab category. Liam Óg Hinphey’s usual dry wit after last week’s press evening tells you he is relishing his latest comeback.
The third is Paul Cleary, who turns 29 later this month.
The Mournemen will remember the name.
The Ballinascreen man hit them for six points from play in the 0-23 to 2-12 semi-final as the Oakfleafers clinched their last final appearance.
Cleary was called into the panel by Ger Rogan late in the 2012 campaign. He was on the periphery. But, the next season, he scored a point on his first league outing in a comfortable win over Wicklow before making his Christy Ring bow in a win over the same opponents later in the season.
He hasn’t missed much in between.
“I came in during the championship, in the year London beat us and went on to win the Christy Ring,” stated Cleary.
“I played every season since I started. It has been a good steady run, I always enjoyed it.
“I always had a great love for it, I played a lot of the games and made most of the teams.''
Barring a four game hiatus with a broken finger, in the middle of Derry’s 2017 Nicky Rackard campaign, Cleary has been a virtual ever-present.
In all competitions, in the last three seasons, he features in all but one of the other 26 games.
Inniskeen hasn’t been a happy hunting ground in recent years. Last year an inspired performance from Kildare goalkeeper Paddy McKenna ended their hopes of a Croke Park return.
This year, also at the Monaghan venue, they lost out on promotion in the league play-off.
“Wicklow seems to be a bogey team for us,” he outlines of his side’s recent record against them.
“In the league final we had 18 wides, I felt we were on top that day and could’ve quite easily won the game but we didn’t take our chances. Other than that, it has been a good season.”
You only get one chance to make a first impression and Cleary was struck by the management from day one.
“We had a meeting and you could tell they were really serious hurling men,” Cleary felt. “Everyone on the management team brings their own part.”
Part of the setup is former Derry football goalkeeper Eóin McNicholl. He is the team’s strength and conditioning coach but Cleary hails his input as so much more.
“It is the first time that a strength and conditioning man has been so involved with us. He is at every match and every training,” Cleary endorses.
Qualification from last year’s group came down to the puck of a ball as Derry edged Down out on score difference, with Cormac O’Doherty’s stoppage time free.
It has whetted the appetite for this weekend. While Cleary name checks Meath and Kildare from the other group, Down is the only focus.
“Anytime I have played them, they have always been great games, they have always been close…that’s all I will be thinking about at the minute.”
In the long term, is a return to Croke Park anywhere in the back of his mind?
Cleary pauses: ''we are confident we can go the whole way.”
