At the summit, the air is thinner. It gets difficult to breathe.
After a decade and more, Eoin Kennedy began his descent about five years ago. He’d enjoyed a remarkable run but there was a new kid in town and top of the mountain only had room for one. So down he tumbled.
And then, last year, something extraordinary happened. Kennedy ascended again, all the way to the peak. Tears were shed on the cold Abbeylara concrete when he summoned up the effort to win again.
The greats can still make fools of us all...
Fourteen months later, the champion was relaxed this week when GAAHandball.ie caught up with him. The pressure, he says, is off.
“I probably still see myself as the underdog, I'm giving away almost 10 years,” stated the St Brigid’s man.
“I have nothing to lose any more. I've been lucky enough to win plenty of titles over the years and I'll do absolutely everything I can to win but if I don't, so be it.
“I've won 28 senior titles, if I win another that's great but it's a nice position to be in, without any pressure. Last year was the first title in a long time where I experienced a feeling of elation. It is usually more relief than elation.”
How did 2014 compare to all the others?
“I actually won my first senior title in 40x20 against Tony [Healy] but my first big alley title was against Ducksie and it was just a great feeling. Then the following year I was beaten by Tom i[Sheridan] n the first round, I just collapsed in that game, I think I was 17-0 down at one stage, so to come back the next year then to win it again was sweet as well.
“At one stage from 2003 to 2010 or so I was probably winning three senior titles a year and then I went three or four years without winning anything. I had won the hardball earlier alright but it was a great feeling to win the softball again.”
Seasoned observers could have been forgiven for thinking that the game at senior level was Robbie McCarthy’s plaything after the Mullingar maestro landed a third title in succession in 2013. And after he beat Kennedy 21-5 in the first game of last year’s final, the second looked like a coronation ceremony.
And then something happened. Kennedy, under heavy shelling, dug in and slowly began to fire shots back – within the hour, incredibly, it was McCarthy sending out distress flares.
What changed between 2011 and 2014?
“I had been in college the previous two years right up to June and then the year before that I handed in my thesis on July 31 so I didn't have a whole lot of time. In saying that, it's no excuse, everyone has things going on in their lives,” says Kennedy.
“I think what also helped me was that last year I had played 40x20 after two years away from it – it just meant I had played more handball, more matches. I'm a great believer in that, the more competitions you play, the better you get.
“You can never replicate the intensity of a competition in training games, it just makes you sharper and a better match player, a bit tighter maybe in a close game. I would always encourage young players to take that approach, even if they're going to specialise in one code later on, just play as many competitions as they can.”
This year, he has trained hard but he’s been careful, too. Since his return to 40x20 handball, Eoin has been picking up pesky elbow injuries so he’s had to learn to box clever.
“I have to listen to the body a bit more. I'm 36 now, I'm 37 in January, and I can't do the mad stuff I used to do. I have to be a bit more clever about rest and make sure I go in fresh.
“I was training with Brian Carroll a bit and then Brian got hurt, I was also playing Carl Browne and two-on-ones with the likes of Kerry Hennessy, Ian Griffin, Niall McGrath. I never worry too much about training games, I think the main thing is that you're executing your shots in them, not who you're playing.
“I don’t feel there’s any pressure on me, I’m going to give it everything I have.” Same as it ever was.
Report by Paul Fitzpatrick
Kennedy on McCarthy:
“This is the seventh final in a row between myself and Robbie and the year before that I think I played him in the quarter-final. He's a super player, he's almost effortless because he's got such good hands. I know I'll be up against it but I can't wait, I've nothing to lose.”
Need for a Nationals in singles...
“I still think we're missing a second big competition. There is no Nationals in singles in the big alley and that's something that is needed. I would still be worried about 60x30 and 40x20 to an extent brecause One Wall is really growing and while that's fantastic and it's a great way to spread the game, we need to make sure we keep people playing the games that we have as well.”
The standard in 60x30...
“I think it's more promising now than it has been. CJ Fitzpatrick is really coming on, I went to the third game with him in the hardball and he got 20 in the first game against Robbie in softball, he's really improved a lot.
“Paudi Quish is coming on too but particularly the minors, Joyce and Dunne, they're excellent players. The standard is coming good again which is great.”
Saturday 10th October in Abbeylara, Longford
- 12noon MS Final: Mayo (Niall Joyce) v Kilkenny (Shane Dunne)
- 1.00pm ID Final: Galway (Ollie Conway/Martin Mulkerrins) v Wexford (Mick & Jim Berry)
- 2.00pm MSS Final: Westmeath (Robbie McCarthy) v Dublin (Eoin Kennedy)