Pictured is Naas (Kildare) footballer Eamonn Callaghan ahead of the AIB GAA Leinster Senior Club Football Championship Final, which takes place at Croke Park, this Saturday, January 8th at 5pm and will see the Kildare champions take on Dublin’s Kilmacud Crokes with the match broadcast live on RTÉ 2.
By John Harrington
At the age of 39, Naas captain Eamonn Callaghan has seen a lot of action for both club and county.
He’s in no doubt though that the sweetest wine has now been served up in the twilight of his career.
A first Kildare Senior Football Champions for 31 years was something special, and the prospect of playing an AIB Leinster Club SFC Final against Kilmacud Crokes this weekend is to be savoured too.
“Ah it’s the top like,” says Callaghan. “Definitely. I suppose the timing of it, coming to the end of my career, I never thought I’d be in this position but yeah, it’s been a long road, even with Kildare as well, we were close a couple of times but to win that county title for the first time in 31 years, that was a massive thing for me growing up you know, and to finally do that, to finally get over the line, that was something special.
“It’s just been a mad year. We haven’t been competitive with Naas in the last number of years so it was never really a thing I thought would happen. It was more hoping.
“But yeah, winning our first one in 31 years, then to go on a bit of a run in Leinster as well, it’s hard to explain what it feels like because we’re still in the moment, just playing, training and that but I’m sure at the end of the season, I’ll be able to look back on it and I’ll be very happy with the year.
“At this stage of my career like, I didn’t even think I’d be playing football never mind playing in a Leinster final.”
Since winning the Kildare championship, every match in Leinster has felt like a free shot for Callaghan and his team-mates.
They're unburdened by pressure because they’ve already exceeded their expectations, but that doesn’t mean they’re not very much focused on causing a shock against the Dublin champions in Croke Park on Saturday.
“We haven’t gone away from our training, we’re still preparing every game the way we would for a county final. Look everything’s a bonus after winning the county title but we’re still very focused on realising where we are, and the opportunity we have.
“I certainly won’t get this opportunity again but even for these younger lads, this won’t happen every year you know, we have to realise the chance that we have right now and to take it.
“So we’ve been very focused that way and our training hasn’t changed so we are enjoying it obviously, but we are still very competitive and we still want to win every game.”
Naas captain Eamonn Callaghan ahead of the cup presentation after the Kildare County Senior Club Football Championship Final match between Naas and Sarsfields at St Conleth's Park in Newbridge, Kildare.
Naas have beaten Offaly champions Tullamore, Wicklow champions Blessington, and Wexford champions Shelmaliers en route to Saturday’s Final.
They showed a lot of character in the semi-final in particular when Callaghan converted a last-gasp equalising free in normal time before the Kildare champions finished with a flourish in extra-time.
“I think we can take a lot from that Shelmaliers game,” says Callaghan. “It looked like it was gone from us and it looked like we were under pressure with the sending off and the black cards and then going down in injury time - it looked like we were gone but in fairness we were still in the game and I think the goal we got in the last ten minutes was crucial.
“That gives you a lift and we hung in then to get it to extra-time. You’d hope that experience will stand to us the next day. We are playing a completely different opposition here so hopefully it will stand to us.”
