Nolan backs old team mates to deliver as Dublin transition continues

With Monaghan in town last weekend for League action, we caught up with a Dublin hero who has made his home on the stony grey soil. 

Kevin Nolan had many great days in the light blue jersey.

But his equalising point and man of the match performance in the 2011 All Ireland final ensured his place in the pantheon of Dublin legends.

The ex-Kilmacud Crokes man remembered not just his point but a few other good ones in that enthralling last seven minutes.

“People probably forget about a few of the scores that went in. 

"Mine was a point that other days you could try again and again but in that heat of battle instincts kick in and thankfully over it went. 

"We went a point up then when Bernard scored an unbelievable point from right corner forward. Then Kieran Donaghy goes down and kicks probably the score of the game under the Cusack, a monster of a point to level it and then you have Stephen Cluxton coming up to kick the winner... 

"The most remarkable finish to a game you’ll ever see because you had a keeper coming up then, that was the start of all that. Ok you might have Rory Beggan doing it now, but the fact that it was against old rivals Kerry. It was the last kick of the game and you had a goalkeeper coming up to do it. It was sixteen years in the making as well so remarkable really...”

As a new era continues for Dublin football, the man who soldiered alongside Kevin Nolan on the Dublin half back line, Ger Brennan, is at the helm with team mates Dean Rock, Denis Bastick and Stephen Cluxton all part of his management team.

It’s a set-up that Nolan believes will deliver for Dublin. 

“The lads were all standard bearers and standard setters in the panels I was involved in. 

"Whether it was attendance at training, punctuality or doing the extra bits - they always would have gone beyond what they needed to do. They are real role models for the young players now playing on the team, there’s no better players to be looking up to. 

"Between the different management teams they’ve all come across they’ve learned plenty and that’s what they’ll draw on now. 

"Niall Moyna is also involved and he’s been involved with DCU teams, St Vincents teams and Dublin teams, so Ger has men around him he can fully trust and who can each do a job for the team.

“Like Monaghan, Dublin are a team in serious transition. They’ve had a lot of players stepping away but there are plenty of players in Dublin who would start on most other county teams. Such was the competition for places that some of these lads are only getting their turn now so it’s up to them to grasp the chance they’ve been given. 

"And now with the new rules as well teams are still learning and tweaking things as they go so it’s up to the new lads to push on now.”

Kevin sees similar parallels now to what was happening in Dublin around 2010 and 2011 when he was breaking into the team.

“I came on in the Meath game in 2010, towards the end of it when we conceded five goals. 

"I think when we reviewed it there were frees given away in the middle of the field and maybe three or four Dublin players facing the referee, giving out. 

"They moved the ball quickly and there were goals going in everywhere. So after that when we went into the qualifiers the likes of myself, Philly McMahon, Michael Fitzsimons, we were getting more chances because Pat was freshening things up. 

"And I think that’s what Ger is doing again. There could be a fresh reset, with a crop of new players coming in this year like 2010 because it’s a team in transition.”

There were indeed some harsh lessons before 2011 and all the success that followed. For most of the noughties, Dublin couldn’t seem to get the upper hand on the top three or four teams in the country. A couple of key wins changed that and suddenly the team started believing, but there were still lessons to be learned.

Kevin recalled, “I remember Bryan Cullen mentioning to me that he had never beaten an Ulster team in Championship and then in 2010 we beat two of them, Armagh and Tyrone. 

"Those performances built up a lot of belief and then against Cork we conceded 1-07 I think from frees and a penalty so we knew we weren’t a million miles away. But the big thing for us was the following year in the League final when we were eight points up against Cork and lost.  That’s when we had a real hard look at ourselves and that set us up for the Championship in 2011. I think if we had won that League final it might have papered over some of the cracks that were there.”

Kevin still lines out for his club Cremartin Shamrocks in Co. Monaghan and he is enjoying every minute. 

“When I came up eight years ago, we were playing Junior football but we are now playing Senior against the likes of Scotstown and Clontibret which is great for a small parish team. 

"League and Championship here are all the one so every League game counts in Monaghan, every Championship game, it’s do or die. 

“It’s a brilliant style of football up here too. It’s hard-hitting but it’s the tactical stuff -  there are coaches here from the likes of Armagh, Tyrone, Derry - and it all feeds in to really good club football and you can see that with Scotstown doing really well.  It’s really enjoyable.”

Kevin managed the Monaghan minor team last year, having been with them since they were the Under 14 Development Squad. 

He enjoyed the experience though they lost the Ulster semi-final by four points to eventual All Ireland champions Tyrone.

His Monaghan links also extended to his college days where he became close friends with the late Eugene ‘Nudie’ Hughes’ son Ciaran through college. 

Kevin also played with Ciaran in New York in 2015 after he finished playing with Dublin. 

He agrees with the widely held view around Castleblayney that, because of his achievements in defence and attack, Nudie is Monaghan’s finest ever player. 

As a player, Kevin’s meetings with Monaghan when wearing a Dublin shirt were actually few and far between. 

“I remember we met in a challenge match in Parnell Park way back and I would have played against lads I’m playing against now in club football. 

"Because I was involved with Kilmacud in the club championship I wouldn’t have been involved in those historic challenge games between Dublin and Monaghan when, under Pat Gilroy, Dublin would have come up maybe four or five weeks in a row and played Monaghan in challenge matches and they tore lumps off each other.”

Kevin was on the panel for the 2014 All Ireland quarter final when Dublin comprehensively beat the Farney.  He was also on the panel for the League meeting the following year in Clones in 2015. Recalling that it was Brian Fenton’s first start for Dublin with him scoring 1-01.

As a player and during his management of the Monaghan minors, Nolan is a big fan of the new rules. 

“As a kicking half back myself there’s a lot more space to kick into the forwards. From managing the Monaghan minors last year and then playing for the club there was a lot of learning on the job, see what was working well and trying to implement that into the game plans. 

"But for sure everything is more attractive. A few years ago hurling would have been more appealing but I think with the new rules football has maybe overtaken that to a certain extent. 

"There are a lot more scores, a lot more exciting football going on and it’s just limiting all that cynical play and the fouling and slowing things up. It’s only good for the game.”

Kevin will keep a close eye on his ex-team mates as the year progresses. 

“I think the Leinster campaign could be a lot more exciting with Meath now getting their ducks in a row at underage and you can see it coming to fruition with the seniors.

"Kildare are doing well and Louth will be there as well. With Dublin coming back into the pack it makes it a bit more appealing and an exciting year to look forward to.”

Indeed - an exciting year that we can all look forward to. 

As a new generation of Dublin footballers stake a claim to the famous blue jersey- here’s hoping Ger unearths another Kevin Nolan or two!