Madden: ‘We know we can be better’

SFC final preview

Damien Donohoe

At just 23, Tiarnan Madden is already one of the most experienced players in the Gowna dressing room. When he runs out at Kingspan Breffni this weekend for the Senior Football Championship final against Kingscourt Stars it will be his fifth county decider which is remarkable in itself.

“I suppose it is,” he smiles.

“After year one, if someone had told me five years later we’d be in that many finals, I probably wouldn’t have believed them. It would have seemed far-fetched. But it shows what can be achieved over a few years with hard work. We’re delighted to be back.”

This time 12 months ago Madden was on the outside looking in. After back-to-back titles and three successive years in the county final, Gowna slipped at the semi-final stage, losing out to Ramor. Madden admits it was a bitter pill to swallow.

“Very disappointing,” he says.

“Ramor were always going to be a tough test but on the day we didn’t perform. There was a lot of talk about the ‘three-in-a-row’ but on the pitch all we wanted was to get back to a county final. We just didn’t perform and Ramor deserved their win.

“Looking back, our performances during the year were a bit slack. People maybe thought we timed our run for knockout football, but you still have to build momentum. We didn’t really give the best account of ourselves and it showed in the semi-final. It was definitely frustrating.”

This season Gowna have looked more like themselves. They came through the group stages smoothly and produced an impressive semi-final display to dethrone champions Crosserlough, though Madden believes there is still plenty to improve.

“The first 15 minutes we definitely weren’t impressed with, going seven points down isn’t ideal and we left a lot of scores behind us,” he says.

“But there were lots of positives. We beat the county champions and for large parts of the game we performed very well. Still, if we go seven down next Sunday we’ll really be asking for trouble. Kingscourt are going to be a very tough outfit. There’s plenty to take from it, but we know ourselves we can be a lot better.”

One of the key factors behind Gowna’s upturn has been the return of several experienced players from injury.

“Getting Ryan McGahern and Conor Brady back fully fit strengthens the defence hugely,” Madden explains.

“There were games where I was fairly young and inexperienced at centre-back without many role models around the back six and it looked shaky at times. Having those lads back makes a massive difference.

“We’re still missing Killian but hopefully we’ll have him. The likes of David Phillips and Fiachra Brady have been a massive help as well. It gives management a serious headache picking a back six but having those experienced players back makes life easier for everyone.”

Inside the Gowna dressing room the expectation remains constant regardless of who is in charge. Once a team has experienced lifting the Oliver Plunkett Cup, Madden says, nothing else will do.

“When you get your first taste of a championship win you don’t accept anything less,” he reflects.

“After we got over the line against Killygarry every year since we’ve wanted to be competing at the top. Inside the group we expect the highest standards from each other, regardless of who’s managing us. The principles stay the same every year.”

There was some outside concern when Dermot McCabe stepped away as manager after delivering those titles, but Madden says Vinny Corey has slotted in seamlessly.

“Dermot brought us to a level none of us really expected, he instilled belief and drove us on,” he says.

“When he left it was disappointing but we were delighted to get Vinny in. He’s a very experienced coach and was a top player himself. He’s brought fairly similar things but also a fresh face, which the group probably needed after the disappointment of last year. Like Dermot, he expects a lot from us. We listen, learn at every training session and take on board what he says. Behind the scenes there are a few tweaks we maybe needed, but it’s been a fairly seamless transition.”

Gowna beat Kingscourt comfortably in the 2023 county final, but Madden insists that result will have no bearing on Sunday.

“It’s in the past,” he says.

“It was a great day for us to go back-to-back but this is a totally different Kingscourt team. We’re expecting a very, very tough battle on Sunday. They’ve had a similar path to us, getting over the same hurdles. They had a fantastic win over Ramor at the weekend and they’ll have that bit of hurt from losing in 2023. We’ll have to be at the top of our game to get over the line but we’re up for the challenge. No championship is easy regardless of what the scoreline says.”

For Madden, the chance to run out at Kingspan Breffni for yet another county final remains as special as the first. He knows from experience how quickly things can change and how hard Gowna have had to work to return to this stage.

“We know ourselves we can be a lot better,” he repeats.

“Kingscourt will be a tough outfit but we’re up for the challenge.”