THE sound of grandchildren playing happily in the background is impossible to ignore when Mickey Johnston picks up the phone.
This was what the next chapter promised when he stepped away after the Covid championship of 2020, one that ended in devastation his St John’s side as they came out the wrong side of a semi-final classic with Loughgiel.
The club and hurling has always been in the blood, but it was time to take a bit of a step back. Let others have a crack.
But then, just when he thought he was out, Johnston finds himself back on the front line as the Johnnies eye up another semi showdown – this time against defending Antrim champions Cushendall.
“The famous Godfather quote,” he laughs.
A combination of injuries and the loss of some key personnel had seen St John’s slip down the pecking order. Sunday in Dunloy will be the true test of how far they have come this year.
But Johnston’s return to the sideline wasn’t pre-planned - happening, he insists, by accident rather than design, with a little encouragement from an old friend.
“I suppose we sort of malfunctioned for a year or two there, just for one thing or another, lads away, and then for different reasons it was hard to get management, hard to get a really good coach.
“It just fell lucky that Chris Clarke became available… Chris is obviously a St John’s man who was with Ballycran for a number of seasons there. He was also with me in Down for a time.
“I went to Chris with a view to him getting a squad of people together, I had no intention really of being involved, but he sort of said ‘I’ll go in if you go in’, and here we are.
“It’s not rocket science, it’s just trying to get everybody on the same page, and get everybody to buy in at the start of the season. If fellas felt the set-up is right and it’s going in the right direction, they’ll buy into it.”
Clarke’s presence of the training field has galvanised the group, allowing Johnston to focus fully on the managerial side of things. So far, it has worked a treat, as St John’s navigated a group of death that included Cushendall, Dunloy and west Belfast rivals O’Donovan Rossa.
They got a run on St Enda’s in the quarter-final to seal a shot at the Ruairi Ogs, and Johnston knows they are “dealing with a totally different animal” in Dunloy on Sunday.
“We’re here on merit.
“I would say Cushendall are probably a better team now than they were when I was managing St John’s last time – they have a better balance of players, they’re certainly ahead in terms of strategising and how they play.
“They’re a team that can go long if they want to, they can work the ball out of defence, they have a number of areas they can hurt you from, and their work-rate… to be fair it wasn’t that Ballyhale beat Cushendall [in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final], Cushendall lost the game against Ballyhale.
“They had the game under control, so you’re dealing with a club that should’ve been in the All-Ireland final, and will feel – rightly too – that they have unfinished business. Winning Antrim is only stage one for them.”
Loughgiel and Dunloy, who meet in the other semi-final on Sunday, have similarly lofty ambitions.
And, given the manner in which Loughgiel ended their rivals’ drive for a fifth Antrim title in-a-row at the same stage last year, there is sure be a little extra spice when these north Antrim neighbours cross the white line in Cushendall.
“This year, with the new management [Shane McMahon], it’s been just building on the foundations that’s been laid,” said Loughgiel forward James McNaughton.
“There’s such a big rivalry there, the formbook really goes out the window. That’s the beauty of Loughgiel and Dunloy, it comes down to who wants it more on the day.”
