They don’t make the like they used to, they don’t make them like Gary Brennan anymore.
This is a man who would line out at number eight for any football team in the country. This is a proud Clare man we’re talking about, though, and nothing will give him greater satisfaction than the strides his county are making now.
Because Gary Brennan has been there through the struggles. He’s all too familiar with the crushing defeats, the moral victories. Clare are done with those days, they’re a force to be reckoned with now, but the dark days will mean the rise is even sweeter and they’re on an upward curve now.
And there were dark days.
Gary Brennan has been there every step of this rocky journey. He was there in 2014 when Clare lost to Tipperary in the Division 4 League final. He was there, stuck in the middle of it when they were trounced by 12 points by Cork in the 2012 Munster final.
Fitting, then, that four barnstorming years later, they have recorded back to back League victories over the Rebels.
These boys are flying high in Division Two, now playing like a team who have ambitions for more and more and more.
On Saturday evening, Colm Collins’ army went down to Páirc Uí Rinn and defeated Cork in their own back garden. The best reflection of Clare’s improvements is that this didn’t feel like a shock. Despite the fact that it was their first league win in Cork in 22 years, this was not a shock.
This was always on the cards because the Banner footballers are cutting loose now.
They’re a hungry team with plenty of experience to draw on and they’re now playing the best football a team in the famous saffron and blue jersey has played for years.
Clare brought light to a stormy Saturday night in the south west. Their bubbling, attacking play fluorescent.
Jamie Malone was at the centre of it all. Cian O’Dea and Sean O’Donoghue set the platform in defence with their fiery, explosive tendencies letting the Cork lads know they meant business.
Gary Brennan was the business. The Clondegad man is the best player in Clare, he’s one of the best in the country.
What a win for the Clare footballers beating Cork 0-14 to 0-12 in Pairc Uí Rínn. Magnificent second half. Jamie Malone, Gary Brennan, Cathal O'Connor superb. Clare are now on six points in NFL division 2 with one game left. #GAA
— Peter O'Connell (@peterdoconnell1) March 17, 2018
He’s not a spring chicken anymore but the football brain defies time and his is at its sharpest right now and only getting sharper. Gary Brennan’s game was never really about speed anyway. He has much more in his locker than that and Clare football followers know that there’s more to come from this wily fox.
He was at his best right here. He kicked three from play, each as good as the next but it was his all round dominance and running of the whole show that made this Clare’s game and not Cork’s.
And there’s no better director around. He called the shots, the Clare lads knew what to do from there.
His first score was something special.
Gary Brennan with a little dummy and finishes with a nice score for Clare pic.twitter.com/Q5oL971ha9
— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 17, 2018
His second was even better.
Gary Brennan with a fantastic score! pic.twitter.com/v06YZNI5Hb
— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 17, 2018
All so graceful, all so care free. The big easy glided past opponents all night like this. He’s been doing it for years in the midfield patch that he owns whenever he crosses the white lines.
A man who could be hurling for his county just as easily, Brennan is one of those raw talents that could turn his hands to anything. Football is his priority, though. Football is his game.
With any relegation fears nearly banished now, Clare are going places. With Gary Brennan in the driving seat, they won’t go too far wrong.
