WHEN Oisin MacManus runs out at Croke Park tomorrow afternoon, one man in particular will be foremost in his thoughts.
“On the day I was born, I was given a hurl by my granda,” he explains.
“He played in Croke Park for Antrim when he was 19, and I always wanted to get there too. Unfortunately he died last year, but he was the driving force for hurling in our family.”
Pat MacManus hurled for Antrim and Ulster in the 1940s and ’50s, and was a stalwart of the famous O’Donovan Rossa club in Belfast, filling every post and doing every job during a lifetime’s service.
“He took every team at some stage, hurling and football,” smiles his grandson, “he was just mad for it, and that has come through us all.”
Dad Niall also represented the Saffrons up to U21 level, yet it is red and black that Oisin will wear tomorrow.
The family had moved to Loughinisland before he was even born, and any question of conflicting county loyalties is met with a swift, sharp response.
“I was born in Down,” says MacManus, “so I’ve always been Down.”
At 22, the Liatroim Fontenoys star embodies the youthful vigour that has helped bring the Ardsmen to tomorrow’s Christy Ring decider against Meath.
It wasn’t always so straightforward though, and MacManus well remembers some of the early lessons learned after coming onto the panel three years ago.
“One night in my first year, it was me and Brook Byers - we’re not big, like - in against ‘Magic’ [Gareth Johnston] and Finty Conway in a two on two tackling drill.
“They just threw us about, absolutely cut us in half. That was a bit of a wake-up call alright - welcome to the big leagues. You had to learn pretty fast.”
That grounding, as well as the hard yards put in at The Dub and St Mary’s CBS through the winter months, stood MacManus in good stead as he developed into a key part of the strong, nippy forward line that has propelled Down into tomorrow’s decider.
Meath are as stiff a step up in class as there is at this level, but the ebullience of youth alongside experienced heads like Stephen Keith and Danny Toner ensures they go in with a fighting chance.
And he has been deploying some of the techniques picked up during a sports psychology masters in Jordanstown in an effort to retain perspective as the big day nears.
“I’ve been trying to keep it out of my mind,” says MacManus.
“I’ve been trying to place it out a bit, pressure and stress management… it’s hard in the house when mum and dad and my brother are sister are going mad about it and telling everyone.
“You just have to keep it under control.”
Sometimes, though, that is easier said than done.
Especially as, for MacManus, tomorrow represents the realisation of a dream held from the earliest of days.
“It’s funny, the other day my mum actually found a pillowcase I used to have with Croke Park on it – I’ve had it since I was five.
“It sounds a bit clichéd, but you’d have been lying on it every night imagining yourself playing there.
“I went to my first All-Ireland final in 2002, Kilkenny against Clare, and I remember DJ [Carey] doing the wee flick. I just thought ‘I have to play there’ - that was it stuck in my head.
“I must get that pillowcase out again…”
