Conway Padraig
November 27, 1992
NAME: Padraig Conway
DATE OF BIRTH: 26/12/68
HEIGHT: 5' 8"
WEIGHT: 10st 10lbs
CLUB: Doonbeg
COUNTY: Clare
HONOURS: 2 County Championships; 1 County League; 1 Munster Championship; All-Ireland B
INTER COUNTY DEBUT: Against Longford (All-Ireland B)
PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: De Beers
TOUGHEST OPPONENT: Eamon Breen (Kerry)
FAVOURITE GROUNDS: Cusack Park, Ennis
FAVOURITE POSITION: Right wing forward
SPORTING AMBITION: To win the All-Ireland
DO YOU PLAY ANY OTHER SPORTS? Squash, swimming
BOYHOOD HEROES: Eddie O'Neill (Doonbeg)
FAVOURITE PLAYERS: Mike Sheehy
BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON CAREER: My father and Richard Nagle
WAYS OF IMPROVING THE GAME: Umpires having a bigger role, best view of off the ball incidents
DISLIKES ABOUT THE GAA: Standard of refereeing
BEST GAME SEEN: Down versus Meath All-Ireland 1991
PLAYERS WITH A PROMISING FUTURE: Denis Russell and John Mooney
HOPES FOR 1993: To get to Division 1 in the League, to win the Munster Championship and go on to win the All-Ireland
TELL US ABOUT YOUR CLUB: Doonbeg football club was formed in 1955, we are a senior club, having won the championship on 12 occasions. The club has reached three Munster Club Finals. Great players such as Senan Downes, Paddy O'Grady, Jamesy Lynch, Michael Haugh, Bert McMahon, Pete Dillon and tommy Tubridy have given sterling service to the county
THERE ARE QUITE A NUMBER OF OTHER DOONBEG PLAYERS ON THE CLARE SQUAD: At the moment there is only Francis McInerney and I, Ger Killeen and Kieran O'Mahoney are not playing until after Christmas and Pat Blake has retired after 10 years county service
YOU, AS HOLDERS, WERE JUST BEATEN IN THIS YEAR'S CLARE SENIOR FOOTBALL FINAL: Yes, Kilkee beat us this year. There is never only a point or two between us when it comes to championship. They are a fine side and are doing very well in the Munster Club
WE WERE TOLD THERE WAS A HUGE CROWD IN ATTENDANCE: Yes, there was about 12,000, a jump of about 8000 from the previous year. There was a great atmosphere there on the day
THE WIN OVER KERRY OBVIOUSLY HAD TO BE THE HIGH POINT OVER THE TWELVE MONTHS: Yes, it certainly was. It was a great day for everyone involved with the team and a great day for Clare football
ANY OTHER HIGH POINTS? Coming out onto Croke Park for the first time against Dublin. The atmosphere was unbelievable
THIS TIME LAST YEAR A KEEN GAA FOLLOWER WOULD HAVE BEEN HARD PRESSED TO NAME THREE OR FOUR OF THE CLARE FOOTBALLERS. NOW YOU ARE NEARLY ALL HOUSEHOLD NAMES. IN NOVEMBER 199, DID YOU EVEN DREAM ABOUT WHAT WAS TO HAPPEN? After winning the All-Ireland B and running Meath to 2 points with 13 players in the League quarter-final, the morale in the squad was high. We knew we had a favourable draw to get to a Munster Final, getting there was great but winning it was fantastic
WE ARE LED TO BELIEVE THAT THE CLARE PEOPLE CELEBRATED LIKE NO OTHERS AFTER THE MUNSTER FINAL SUCCESS: After the Munster Final the celebrations went on for a week around west Clare. As we travelled around the county, the streets of every town and village we came to were packed out, and there was a lot of late nights
THE COLOUR AND THE VOLUME OF YOUR SUPPORT IN CROKE PARK WAS FANTASTIC. IT MUST HAVE BEEN A PROUD DAY FOR ALL THE PLAYERS: I don't think that we will every forget it. It was something we could only have dreamt about last January
YOU PLAYED VERY WELL YOURSELF THAT DAY. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF TOMMY CARR, YOUR IMMEDIATE OPPONENT? As everyone knows, Tommy Carr is a fine player and would get on any team in the country. He has played a true captain's part for Dublin over the years
YOU TOOK TOMMY ON A COUPLE OF TIMES THAT DAY AND BEAT HIM. IS THIS A STRONGER POINT OF YOUR GAME? I like getting on the ball and taking people on. This is something I have worked a lot on
THE BANNER PLAYERS MUST HAVE THE HEIGHT OF RESPECT FOR TEAM MANAGER JOHN MAUGHAN: Without John the success of last year would never have been possible. He gets on very well with all the players, but is still the boss
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIM AND PREVIOUS CLARE MANAGERS? John has brought a very professional approach to management and training and the players are responding to this. This has been the secret of our success
HAVE CLARE CONTINUED TO TRAIN FOR THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE? Yes, we are training two nights a week as the League is important to every county this year
THE CLARE ROLLERCOASTER TO CONTINUE IN 1993? It can with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work
Taken from Hogan Stand magazine
27th November 1992
Vol 2 No 83
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