NIGEL Elliott pulls up a seat beside a couple of journalists in the Dunloy clubrooms and you immediately sense he doesn’t take life too seriously.
It seems the prevailing philosophy of this group of Dunloy hurlers. They've as many wise crackers as speedy front men.
Nigel Elliott is a member of both clubs.
Who wins the sprints in training?
Wearing a roguish grin, he says: “Ahem, I’d better not say because some of the boys might fall out with you. I’d say there are a few photo-finishes.”
You give another gentle nudge for a proper answer: Keelan Molloy, Seann Elliott, Nigel himself?
“I’d say I’d be at the top, aye! Those young boys don’t like being beaten in the sprints. It is probably one of our strengths.
“It isn’t just one or two forwards - it is all six. Then you’ve boys coming through the middle. It is an advantage we have in our team, we are so sharp and fast. If you don’t have the skill you might as well not be as quick!”
You also sense around the Sierra Maestra of Dunloy that nobody will be allowed to forget who plucked the ball out of the north Dublin skies and off-loaded to Keelan Molloy to score that wonder goal against St Thomas’s.
In his post-match interview after the All-Ireland semi-final, Molloy told reporters that Nigel Elliott had a vision – of sorts – in that he would catch a ball during the game, hand it off to the county ace and he’d go on to raise a green flag.
Elliott was on the money but probably didn’t realise just how fantastical Molloy’s solo run and shot would be.
“I think I said to him before the county final and the same thing before the Ulster final,” laughs Elliott, warming to the reporters’ interrogation.
“I never catch a ball! I said: ‘Sure, I’ll catch one and lay it off to you’ and no better time to catch one and lay it off to Keelan - it was in the All-Ireland semi-final.
“No better man to hand it to either. He took off like a greyhound - I don’t think you’d catch him on a motorbike!
“If I could predict that again… maybe this time I’ll say I’ll catch two and he’ll score two!”
In terms of timing his own run, it couldn’t have worked any better for Elliott.
He spent the best part of two-and-a-half years in Australia – albeit he missed Dunloy’s county championship victories in 2020 and 2021 – but returned at just the right time for the north Antrim club’s crack at All-Ireland glory.
“I left in the November after we lost to Slaughtneil in 2019. We lost on the Sunday and I was on the plane on the Wednesday. I got sent off that day so I didn’t hang about!”
A few months after they’d arrived in Australia, the COVID pandemic hit.
“I wouldn’t say COVID ruined the trip,” he says.
“You couldn’t travel between states. It wasn’t too bad as it was still 30 degrees when you finished work and you were fit to go to the beach and have barbecues.
“That helped a lot. We’d no real time-frame on how long we’d go out for, but we were out six months when COVID hit and the borders shut.
“It helped me stay that bit longer… The only bad thing is I missed two county titles. I came back at the right time.”
Others haven’t timed their runs quite as well as Elliott.
Fellow attacker Eoin O’Neill will miss one of the biggest days in his club’s history after he played for Robert Emmet’s in the London championship and therefore couldn’t transfer back to Dunloy in the same season.
An automatic starter and goal-poacher, O’Neill will be an unfortunate footnote in years to come when people look back on this season’s All-Ireland Club final
Elliott certainly feels his club-mate’s pain.
“'Sammy' has been with us since all those young lads were playing U6s or whatever the whole way through. It is just unfortunate - the decision he made this year was to go to London.
“I thought he was going on to Australia. To be honest, you’d like a boy like that on your team or coming off the bench.
“It’s just sad the way it worked out. He was going over for work then stayed on and played in the (London) championship.
“He is back home now, but he can’t transfer back. We don’t really like talking to him about it. He will be gutted missing out on the whole thing, seeing the boys he has grew up with, the likes of Seann [Elliott], Keelan [Molloy], ‘Coby’ [Conal Cunning], Ryan [McGarry].
“That’s the choice he made. I’d say if you asked him, he’d probably regret it.”
O’Neill has featured in Darren Gleeson’s Antrim team this month, but Elliott doesn’t know whether he’ll hook up with the county again after a couple of years away.
“At the minute, I’ve no idea and that’s being honest. There’s been no real chat of going back and no contact.
“I suppose the county boys are waiting until the club season passes before making any approaches. I don’t know what to be at - I’ll see after the 22nd and see how it all goes.”
For all of the plaudits Dunloy have received in Antrim over the six years, they needed to make an impact beyond their own county borders.
Slaughtneil stopped them from showing what they could do on the national stage and on three separate occasions were the puzzle Gregory O’Kane’s men couldn’t solve – until last month.
Ask anyone within the camp and they’ll tell you they’re on bonus territory – and Elliott wasn’t about to refute that notion by keenly reaffirming just how big a favourite Ballyhale Shamrocks are ahead of tomorrow’s decider at Croke Park.
“Ballyhale are probably the best club team that’s been about,” says Elliott (30). “We look at them as a team. They’ve a few individuals we need to worry about too.
“The way we look at it nobody gave us any hope against St Thomas’s. We showed our strength to get through that. We are obviously going to be underdogs again against Ballyhale.
“In a way that’s good because there’s no pressure on us and we can play with freedom and express ourselves in Croke Park.
“That’s the best way to do it and have no regrets after the game.
“Anything now is a complete bonus for us. The last time we were in a final was 2004 so it has taken us over 18 years to get here. These opportunities don’t come around too often so you have to embrace the moment.”
Several of Dunloy’s county stars had already experienced that winning feeling at Croke Park – but others were only breaking their duck against St Thomas’s in December.
“It is massive having a good few boys who have experienced of winning at Croke Park this year in the Joe McDonagh.
“We’d probably say Croke Park would benefit our style. Especially when you are playing winter hurling. There’s no other county venue that’s going to be as good as Croke Park.
“But it isn’t just going to benefit us - it will benefit Ballyhale too. It will be the same for both teams.”
