Dual star Ryan McCluskey recalls three memorable games he was involved with during his career, including a first senior championship title with Enniskillen, an Ulster final with Fermanagh and an Irish Cup final appearance with Dungannon Swifts.
Sunday, September 20, 1998 - Fermanagh SFC Final Replay
Enniskillen 0-14 Devenish 1-03
THIS was the game that set us on our way to six in a row. It was a brilliant period for the club as we also reached two Ulster Club finals and probably should have won at least one.
I was part of a great underage side that had won a lot of medals and enjoyed a lot of underage success, and we all came through together into the senior squad under Seamus Doyle, somebody I have a huge respect for.
Doyler’s work had taken him into Enniskillen and he immersed himself in the club, taking our group up from U-10s into the Seniors. We learned a lot from him both on and off the pitch.
We had a lot of young players in the squad in 1998, which was my first in the Senior set-up, but you also had the likes of Brendy Dooris, Raymie Curran, the two Brews, Simon Bradley and Gerry McDermott, so there was an experienced spine to the side.
Because we were in something of a transition, there maybe wasn’t that much expected of us in 1998 from the outside, but internally we knew we were capable of pushing on.
We scrapped through the quarter-final against Lisnaskea after a replay and then we beat Teemore in the semi-final to get to the final against a strong Devenish side, who had a lot of quality in the likes of Paddy McGuinness, Kieran Gallagher, Bart and Tick O’Brien and Tyson Gallagher – they had that championship winning know-how.
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The first game was played in difficult conditions – there was a strong wind and driving rain – and finished in a draw.
To be fair to Devenish, they nullified us that day; they were more physical and we were happy enough to get a second bite at it.
We put in a lot of work in the two weeks between the first game and the replay, and I think the conditions suited us a lot better the second day.
It was a hot afternoon in Irvinestown and our pace and energy gave them a lot of trouble.
We knew we had underperformed the first day and we were right at it from the first ball in the replay.
Colm (Bradley) and Ronan (McCabe) were exceptional inside for us, and Devenish struggled to handle them while Tom Brew was unplayable at midfield.
Everybody showed a real hunger and bite; we had the better of things all over the pitch and at half-time we led 0-10 to 1-02, which in no way flattered us.
Comprehensive winners
Devenish did keep battling away but we never looked like loosening our grip in the second half and in the end we were comprehensive winners.
I watched the game back on Fermanagh GAA TV a while back and I thought it noticeable the way the game has changed and the conditioning of players has changed. I was a stick insect with the baggy jersey!
It is a great memory and one to cherish. For so many of us it was our first Senior championship title and it just whetted the appetite for more.
To be part of that side that went on to win six in a row was special, and maybe we took it for granted at the time but when you look back it is a massive achievement and something that we can be very proud of.
I think it was also special to have so many young players coming through at the one time into the Senior side, and going on to win the title in their first year in Senior football.
There was a great camaraderie among this group and we would still be regularly in contact.
As I say, this was just the start for this side, although if there was one disappointment it would be that we didn’t go on to win an Ulster title.
There are a lot of great memories from that time though, and that day in Irivinestown is right up there.
Saturday, May 5, 2007 - Irish Cup Final
Dungannon Swifts 2 Linfield 2(aet)
Linfield won on pens
TO BE involved in an Irish Cup final was fantastic, although it was a very difficult time for me and my family as my father passed away in the lead-up to the game.
My father had been ill for a while and I spent a lot of time helping to care for him at home, so that run in the cup was a great release that year and to go to the final was brilliant.
There was a really strong local connection with Dungannon at that time, with Shane McCabe, Mark McConkey, Paul Baron, Duwayne McManus and myself part of the squad while Harry McConkey was in the coaching staff. There was always good craic going up to training.
We had some cracking players at Dungannon at the time, with McGinn, McAllister, Rodney McAree, Montgomery – some outstanding talent.
Harry Fay was over us at that time, and you had Joe McAree in the background and he was the catalyst for everything that was good at the club, and still is.
We knew that season if we could get on a bit of a run, we could do well in the competition and it was a welcome distraction from the league where our form wasn’t great.
We beat Cliftonville in the semi-final and that put us through to a final against a quality Linfield side, although we felt that we had a serious chance of winning it.
This was my first soccer final and the whole build-up to it was brilliant. It was a great occasion; you had the suits, which just adds to the day, and the game was in Windsor Park, which is where you want to be playing.
I hadn’t been training as much as I would have liked but I remember Gary Beckett getting in touch with me and he took me out for a couple of sessions at the Lakeland Forum to keep me ticking over, and I was grateful for that.
I started the final on the left side of midfield and, given that I had missed a good bit of training, I didn’t really expect to start.
I was though hungry to play and I wanted to give something back to the club because of how supportive they had been in the weeks before the game.
It was also great to play alongside Shane, who is one of my closest friends, and he was outstanding and when I look back on it I think that the better side lost that day.
We showed great character to twice come from behind in the first half with Rory Hamill and Rodney McAree getting our goals and we were playing really well.
I ended up being stretchered off with about 20 minutes to go after I had nipped my calf, and it was maybe something to do with having not trained as much as I would have liked to in the build-up to the game. Mark McConkey came on for me at that stage.
The score remained 2-2 at the end of normal time, and there was no winner in extra time so it went to penalties.
Our goalkeeper, Duwayne Nelson, actually saved their first two penalties to give us the advantage in the shoot-out, but it was not to be.
It was an emotional day for me, and I remember Linfield Manager David Jeffrey came to me after the game and spoke well, which meant a lot and Michael Gault, one of their players, had reached out to me before the game, and I appreciated that.
I absolutely loved being involved in the final and to have been at Dungannon at that time, with such a talented group, was special.
Sunday, July 27, 2008 - Ulster SFC Final Replay
Fermanagh 0-08 Armagh 1-11
The 2008 Ulster final and the subsequent replay are two games that stick out for me and I suppose that there is that disappointment that we didn’t get across the line and land that elusive Ulster title.
Malachy O’Rourke had come in as Manager that year. It was a new voice in the changing room with new ideas and we had heard brilliant reports about him from the club scene. The fact that he was one of our own, and a former Fermanagh player, helped as well.
There was no stone left unturned from the outset – he really pushed things on and brought a real professionalism to the set-up and there was a real sense of togetherness about the whole thing.
We built a lot of momentum in the league, gaining promotion from Division Three, although we lost to Wexford in the league final in Parnell Park.
The big goal though was always the Ulster Championship, and Malachy had instilled a great belief within the squad that we could do something.
There was a lot of work put in and we could see clear progressions to what we were doing throughout the year, and I think that came a lot from what was going on behind the scenes and the planning that was put into it, so we were quietly confident going into the championship.
Malachy also had a good understanding of players. We would have been a pretty relaxed group anyway, but I remember before one of the championship matches he made the point that the population of China didn’t care about us playing in a big game, and it was just his way of easing any nerves that might have been there, but in a light-hearted way.
We beat Monaghan in Brewster Park in the opening game, and then we came from behind to beat Derry in Omagh on a memorable night with Owensy, who had just come back from heart surgery, getting a famous goal.
We then faced Armagh in the final, and although they were maybe not the force that they had been a few years before, they still had the likes of Ronan Clarke, Stevie McDonnell, Paul McGrane, Francie Bellew – boys with All Ireland medals in their back pockets.
I had many a battle with McDonnell back then, and he was a fantastic player and if he scored he would let me know about it, and I would do the same if we scored, although there was always a line and it was never crossed.
The Friday night before the drawn game I split my thumb in training, and had to go to hospital and I had to take painkillers to get through both games, which was frustrating, but I was never going to miss out on the game.
One of the things that sticks out most from the two games was the colour and atmosphere in Clones – it was unbelievable.
I still have goosebumps thinking about that drive into Clones, with the green and the orange. The Fermanagh fans had turned out in their droves for the game. I think it was about three to one green, and just to see that in the ground was amazing.
I think the first day was one that we left behind as we had wasted a few chances but if it had gone on any longer we would have won it, as the momentum was all with us in the closing minutes.
I remember Doc slotting over the equalising point that day, and I was unsure if it was level or we were one ahead.
We were confident though going into the replay and we made a good start but we missed a few chances and in the second half the game got away from us.
It was disappointing to not win an Ulster, but to be involved on occasions like these are memories I will always have, and what I would say is that there is nothing that beats playing.
I’m doing a bit of management now, but while it is great to be involved, it is not the same as playing.
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