He’s 46 years of age, he owes his club nothing…but Brendan Cummins still has more to give.
It was last weekend, with his club mired in the pits of a relegation battle, when the Ballybacon Grange stalwart wrote another chapter in the book that goes on forever. It sounds like more of a fantasy than a match report but, to beat Arravale Rovers in the Tipperary intermediate relegation semi-final, goalkeeper Brendan Cummins scored 0-10, 0-1 from play… and then he saved three penalties in the shoot-out.
On the Thursday after the Sunday before, Cummins joined the GAA Hour to chat with Colm Parkinson about the heroics that, if you’re from Tipperary or Ballybacon Grange at least, you’ve become accustomed to over the years.
“They were conceding a few frees, and I came out and took a few and I suppose, as any free-taker will tell you, there are some days when, no matter what way you hit him, they’ll go over the bar. Thankfully for me and the club, Saturday was one of those days.
“The one from play, that was just a ball that came over the top and there was no-one really near me. So I went off on a bit of a meander, I’d seen a bit of space in front of me and I just went for it, hit it hard as I could and when I opened my eyes then, it was sailing over the bar.
“There’s days when it really goes for you, and last Saturday week was one of those days for me.”
.@FBD @TipperaryGAA Co. IHC Rel SF
Goalkeepers Union Respect 👊🏻
Havin saved 3 penalties, to help his club win @BrenCummins1 takes time to console @ArravaleRovers keeper at the end 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻#Club #Hurling #County #Championship @south_tippGAA @NorthTippGAA @Westtippgaa @MidTipp pic.twitter.com/0HVvb7ZMme
— Ballybacon-Grange Gaa (@BallybaconG) October 9, 2021
He’s had plenty of those days but there’s more to come.
“Well the plan is to be honest with you, my young fella is 13, and the plan is to play with him.
“I played with my dad back in the day, so i’ll have to hang in there for another few more years please God. It’s just the competition is what I like.”
By the sounds of it, that will take him up to the age 50 which, you’d have to say, is sterling service from one of the best custodians ever to mind a goals.
“The thoughts – can I still do it? I suppose that the bar I set for myself, and the standards I set for myself, can I keep doing them?
“The key for me, and the way I’ve continued on playing is that over the next two or three months I’ll go back running the roads now, November/December/January, and make sure my body doesn’t get lazy.
“And that’s when the hamstring injuries and all of those things will stop you playing long into your career and of course you touched on that there, I play in the goals in hurling, so it’s not that physically taxing either.
“So if my body is someway right, and the hamstrings hold up, we should be okay for another while anyway, please God.”
Just like all of the greats, Cummins is cut from a different cloth.
