County final day holds no fears for Killinkere’s Cooper

A week out from the county final and Lewis Fay-Cooper is taking it all in his stride. Some players go in for faux modesty or talking down their chances but not the Killinkere captain. They will, he intimates, be travelling to Cootehill to win the cup. Why pretend otherwise?
Cooper, attacking centre-back and dead ball specialist, has always been a little bit different than the norm.
His family moved to the parish when he was in his early teens and had never kicked a size five in anger. Soon, he followed his friends to the pitch, donned the green and gold and liked what he found. Within a couple of years, he was corner-back for the Cavan minor team in an Ulster final in Clones.
On Sunday, the 21-year-old will lead the club into a second county final in three years. And the game, he says, now means everything.
“I never really picked it up till I was maybe 13 or 14, I moved up here from down south,” Cooper told The Anglo-Celt this week. 
“I basically didn't know what it was, there's no real football in my family. It was never a burning passion when I was young but from the camaraderie, going through different things together, growing up with lads and playing football with them constantly, it built solidly over the last couple of years and I'd definitely say it's the number one priority in my life at the moment and has been for the last couple of years.”
The core of the current Killinkere side have grown up together. Losing the intermediate final in a replay in 2016 hurt like hell and an unexpected relegation last year made it worse. Winning on Sunday, while at a lower level, would provide balm for that sore, says Cooper - and the fact that he will be leading the team out has increased his own focus too, he admits.
“Two years ago was a great experience and all that but each one brings something different. Being junior, being the captain as well, it adds expectation but a great buzz of excitement as well. I can't wait for it to come.
“Is there extra pressure as captain? A small bit in some ways, in terms of including all players and thinking of various things other than your own personal performance. It's been a good challenge this year in terms of my own personal development and in my football development, it has helped me come on a lot, it has been good.
“I definitely think I'm playing my maturest football. A lot of people like seeing players running forward getting scores or popping over 45s but there's a lot of other stuff you have to get done. I think it's the smaller stuff I have been focusing on most.”

ABOVE: Back (from left): Gerry Brady, Mark Farrelly Snr, Daniel Sweeney, Emmett Fitzsimons, Darren Smith, Jason McMahon, Mark Farrelly Jnr, Noel McGovern, Brian Clarke, Mark Donnelly, Dillon Nugent, James Farrelly, Kevin McCabe, Declan Smith, Enda Traynor, Ciaran Smith, Conor Sexton, Ollie Sharkey, Sean McGovern, Peter McCabe, Paddy Bates. 
Front: Liam McCabe, Michael Smith, Cian Fitzsimons, Ciaran Sexton, Breen Smith, Ciaran Cusack, Garry Denning, Lewis Fay Cooper, Damien Sexton, Myles Reilly, Martin Reilly, Anthony Brady, Dillon McAleer, Paul Kerr.

Killinkere have been the goal kings in Cavan this season, hitting the net 53 times in 17 matches. How are they doing it? 'Lewie' doesn't hesitate in replying.
“Peter McCabe!” he laughs. “It's just his speed.”
Is he the quickest forward in the county?
“He could well be. But I think we did stats a couple of years ago and I was a wee bit faster than him. I'll take that one to my grave I think!”
That pace has dismantled a few defences to date and Cooper doesn't shy away from discussing it. Playing the poor mouth is not for him.
“We've a lot of instinctive players who are drawn to going towards goal and with the speed that we have in the team, it tends to unlock things. With having three or four players who are constantly going and going and going, it creates openings I suppose, that has been happening this year.”
Losing that intermediate final has been referenced indirectly in the dressing-room this year. 
“A lot of us would talk about gtting back to where we feel we belong. It's definitely been a driving force, since the very start of the year. Normally you're finding what's driving you later in the year, come championship, green grass days and stuff, but since the start of the year there has been a genuine drive to get back to where we feel we should be.”
The vast majority of the Killinkere squad were not even born the last time the club won a county championship. Cooper agrees that a title is “massively overdue”, both as a reward for the current squad and in terms of putting the club on a sound footing for the future.

 

“It would mean everything, not just to us as players or the older ones but the younger ones who have never known in the club what it means to have a title in the cabinet. It would be just great for them to look up and see that Killinkere aren't just there to make up numbers.
“Hopefully after that it will be a surge for many years to keep the club growing strong.”
As for Sunday, the centre-back reckons it will be an open contest.
“I think it will a footballing game, it's not really going to be an overly physical game I wouldn't imagine. I think both teams will show what skills they have in terms of what they do with the ball.
“Cootehill is a very good pitch, we've played on it already this year. I think it will be a very good game, hopefully high-paced and competitive the whole way through.”
Most neutrals expect a tight match but Cooper sees no point in being apprehensive. The big days are what motivates any player and chances to line out in them come around too rarely to let them slip by.
Drumlane are worthy of respect but as for being afraid of taking them on? Cooper, who is employed with a local bookmaker, shakes his head. He likes his team's odds and anyway, there's no room for fear in a winning dressing-room, he reckons.
The sides met in the league, with Killinkere winning. Did he think at the time that they would meet again in the championship?
“Well, we didn't have any fear that we might lose to them,” he replies. 
“Myself and us in the club, we have no fear that we will lose to anyone. In terms of meeting them in any game, we wouldn't really fear that.
“But they had moments in the league game that gave us bother so obviously they're not going to be a pushover by any means. They've shown that in the championship so far so it will make for an interesting affair I think.”
Like the man himself.