Timmy Cummins Loyal servant of Limerick football. Another Munster final appearance is the target. The man from Galbally is as determined as ever. The summer arrived on schedule across the country last week. Beautiful late April and early May sunshine. The picturesque seaside village of Malahide was looking it's best. The horse chestnuts provided a suitable background for the flowering cherry trees. Behind the splendidly manicured cricket grounds a lone figure was beating a familiar trail. Short sprints, long sprints, jogging and press ups. Until the red ball of fire sank in the west. Only then was the stop watch tucked away and the towel taken from the kit bag. Championship time is getting closer. Timmy Cummins has stepped up the pace. Semple Stadium and the footballers of Tipperary are less than two weeks away. Hopefully, Waterford will be visiting the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick a month later. And then there's July 18th. The Munster football final. Limerick against Clare, Kerry or Cork. That's the way that Timmy is thinking. That's the way that he has to think. Tipperary and Waterford must be treated with the utmost respect but with the big 'three' on the other side of the draw, the footballers of Limerick know that they might have to wait for a long time before they get a similar opportunity of appearing on Munster final day. The man from Galbally knows it too. He'll be thirty two in September and time is beginning to run out. He remembers the atmosphere in Fitzgerald Stadium in July 1991. Limerick versus Kerry in the Munster final. A crowd of almost 30,000. And he remembers that Limerick scored three goals and twelve points and were still beaten. There is an opportunity to do better. That's what keeps the man going. It's not easy training on your own. But Parnell's early exit from the Dublin championship means that the black and greens are currently less committed to the shedding of sweat for league and tournament games. Maybe there's a silver lining in this particular cloud. Timmy Cummins, suffering form three broken ribs missed out on Parnells' demise in the first round of the championship, at the hands of Ballymun Kickhams. All going well, he will return to club action in Limerick this summer to assist his beloved Galbally in their attempt to win a first ever Limerick senior football championship. Situated in south east Limerick, Galbally has always had a strong football tradition. The border with Tipperary is only a mile away while the north Cork town of Mitchelstown is also close. It's Golden Vale county with the Galty Mountains providing an attractive backdrop. "Although we've never won the senior championships, we've nearly always been among the top four or five teams in the county." Michael Cummins lined out with Galbally and his sons John and Timmy have carried on the tradition. John represented the county at underage level while Timmy first played for the minors at fifteen years of age. Three years later, in 1979, he made his debut for the seniors and has been part and parcel of the Limerick team ever since. It has been a trying experience with a great deal more disappointments than celebrations. There have been a fair share of false dawns, most notably in Centenary Year when the Limerickmen collected a couple of famous scalps before bowing out of the Centenary Cup. In the late eighties, as Cork marched to four successive Munster titles, their most difficult opponents were not Kerry ... but Limerick. Two events occurred in early 1991 that provided Limerick football with an immense boost. The first was the introduction of the open draw system for the Munster championship and the second was the arrival of the peerless Kerry full back John O'Keeffe as coach. For Timmy Cummins and some of his senior colleagues on the team, it was a case of better late than never. "It was a great pity that Johnno was not available to us in the mid eighties." With the fresh opportunity provided by the open draw, allied to the arrival of the big Kerryman, the footballers of Limerick soon found a new bounce to their collective step. The victories over Tipperary and Waterford were by narrow margins and Kerry were the warmest favourites to take the title. The odds quoted were 14/1 on Kerry, 0/1 against Limerick. "It was their more experienced players like Maurice Fitzgerald, Jack O'Shea and Pat Spillane that beat us." For Timmy and his colleagues it was an occasion of mixed emotions. They were bitterly disappointed that, having corm so close, they still had nothing to show for their great efforts. But they had sampled the big occasion and although most of the crowd in Fitzgerald Stadium were supporting Kerry, Limerick's skill and commitment opened more than a few eyes. Later that evening a huge television audience also witnessed Limerick's near arrival at the top table. It is probably that the footballers of Clare also sat up and took notice. No doubt about it, the Munster football championship would never be the same again. Ask any youngster in the country to name a Limerick footballer. The reply won't be immediate but the odds are, that when it does come, it will be the name of Timmy Cummins. The forward with the lethal left foot. But throughout his lengthy spell on the county team, the man from Galbally would agree that neither he nor any of his team mates have become household names. It could have been so different. A lucky break against Kerry in 1991 would have changed the scenario. The same could be said of recent championship outings against Cork. It's only a thin line. And the breaks seldom go in favour of the underdogs. Yet, Timmy has enjoyed a much higher profile than most of his colleagues. Limerick footballers on the Munster Railway Cup team are not the most common species down south. But in 1984 he was selected on the Munster team in a full forward line that also included Mickey Sheehy and Dinny Allen. He was also on the provincial panel in 1986 and 1988 but was unfortunate not to bring a rare Railway Cup football medal to the county. It was always on the cards that Timmy would emerge as one of the biggest Limerick stars. He won the full range of underage medals from under 14 to under 21 with his beloved Galbally and when the adult team dropped down to the intermediate ranks, he helped them regain their cherished senior status at the first attempt. His father Michael has always been a huge influence while club mentors Eddie Ryan and Paddy Hyland also provided much encouragement. They were thrilled when their young protege made the county minors at such a young age. But in 1991, Timmy decided to take up his roots and transferred to the Parnells club in Dublin. He is currently the Financial Controller of Borland International in Swords and lives in Malahide. The constant travelling up and down to Limerick became a burden and he was received with open arms into the Parnells club, where county colleague Donal Fitzgibbon was an established star. Timmy's introduction to Dublin club football was a chastening experience. Against St. Vincents in the first round of the 1991 championship he sustained a broken collarbone. But Parnells survived and went on to contest a final against Thomas Davis. Once again, Timmy experienced a narrow defeat but his performances throughout the campaign earned him selection on Dublin's blue star team and a further accolade as 'Forward of the Year' in one of the city's newspapers. "There's a world of difference in the standard of club football in Dublin and Limerick. It is extremely competitive in the capital with many teams containing well established county players in their line outs. It's also quite physical and requires a high degree of fitness. Every other game is like an intercounty match. There are not too many prolific scorers from play, but this has much to do with tactics and detailed strategies." A championship medal in Limerick this year would certainly please Timmy, and there's every chance of that happening. Is a Munster championship medal a possibility? After Clare's victory last year almost anything is possible, but Timmy is looking ahead only as far as the forthcoming game against Tipperary. "In recent years our record against Tipperary is quite good. The core of the team has been around for a long time now so we should have no fears about the trip to Semple Stadium. Our league form wasn't as bad as it looked. We lost three of our games, to Louth, Antrim and Galway by a single point and while Kerry beat us by two points in the '91 final, people seem to forget that they only beat us by three points in '92. Although its unlikely that Philip Danaher and Dan Larkin will be in the line out against Tipperary, they would probably be ready for the Waterford match if we get over the first hurdle." In the recent McGrath Cup game at Ennis, Limerick and Clare finished all square at the end of sixty minutes. The visitors had their chances but couldn't put the Munster champions away. In extra time Clare's superior fitness, boosted by a prolonged league campaign, proved to be the difference between the teams. "We were always on a par with Clare and their victory last year has shown us what can be done. At the moment we're preparing for Tipp and the extra time collapse in Cusack Park was not all that worrying." Timmy scored four of Limerick's twelve points against Clare and was not discouraged by the defeat. "Tom Browne and Donal Fitzgibbon were injured and we gave as good as we got for the hour." Both Tom Browne and Donal Fitzgibbon are part of Limerick's Dublin based contingent along with Sean Kelly and Timmy. Paddy Barrett and Noel Leonard are in Cork while Eugene Leonard is based in Kerry. Timmy will not worry too much about the Tipperary defence. "I don't bother about who'll be my marker in a game. I simply concentrate on my own performance." It is an approach that has paid dividends to date. He has three McGrath Cup medals and has been top scorer for Limerick in several National League campaigns. April has always been a particularly rewarding month for him; he ha won footballer of the month on four successive Aprils and has collected several other such monthly awards. It's a long way from Galbally to Malahide but one feels that Timmy Cummins will be happy to make the trip on several occasions throughout the summer. In pursuit of glory for the village and for the county. His wife Collette hails from Loughgur near Hospital in Limerick and they have two daughters, Laura (4) and Michelle (2). They'll be looking forward to waving the green and white flags on July 18th. But first there's Tipperary and Semple Stadium on Sunday next. Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 14th May 1993 Tweet

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