WHEN MICHAEL SHIELDS was pressed into action yesterday in Thurles, it was at a time of growing anxiety about the prospects of St Finbarr’s.
Shields entry to the field on Munster senior club final day came after the second water break, a stoppage where the Cork champions wrapped their heads around a third quarter where they failed to score and had seen their six-point defict cut to one.
If they needed a sense of calm to be instilled to their team in the face of the Austin Stacks onslaught, then they turned to an experienced man at Semple Stadium.
19 years after making his senior debut for the club, Shields has seen enough in his football career to appreciate the need for composure.
“I was kind of hoping to come on, when it was four or five points up, maybe with five minutes to go. I seem to be coming on when we’re just a point or two up. It was tough watching, especially coming on I was a bit nervous but I think all we needed to do was keep it simple. If we got that one point, I think we were safe. Thankfully we got a goal and that kind of put it to bed.”
The goal in question had the 2010 All-Ireland winner with Cork at the heart of it. He may have won two All-Star awards for his performance as an inside defender but these days Shields is employed in the half-forward line, pulling the strings.
He made the critical incision into the Austin Stacks defence, the run that prised them apart before he played in Enda Dennehy for a priceless 59th minute goal.
“The lads just gave me instructions, keep it simple, try and get on the ball. Look the ball came my way and it just opened up, to be fair Enda was on my shoulder and he put it away nicely. I was going to kick the point and I said I’d better not, we’d missed a few. When I took the dummy, it just opened up a little bit and the gap just appeared, that’s the way it worked out.”
There was to be another valuable intervention after Sean Quilter had smashed 1-1 in injury-time for the Kerry champions, Shields winning the free that yielded the insurance point from Steven Sherlock.
“Even when they got the goal, it might have been a bit nervy but to be fair to John (Kerins) and all the boys, they kept it simple, we won the ball, we worked it up and we got a score again to kill it off.
“To be honest I was trying to go down for it and shield my body but he came in with a kind of slide tackle, so it was a free. Thankfully we got a free in and Steve stood up and finished the job. Once we got that point, that was it.
“It’s a squad game and we’ve been saying it all year. We’ve had injuries too, fellas coming in and it’s continuous rotation. Again I think the bench was a factor in the winning of the game today, so it’s great to see. It’s a great show of character all year by us, so many games they’ve been in the balance, we’ve just knuckled down and pulled through.”
“He’s a warrior for us, he’s a warrior for the Barrs. You take your hat off to him,” reflected St Finbarr’s manager Paul O’Keeffe.
“Listen, he’s totally on board. He’ll do whatever it takes for the team. He’s just a fantastic guy to have around the camp. If he starts he’s delighted, if he comes on he’s delighted – if he doesn’t come on, now that might be a different issue. It’s fantastic to have a guy like that – starting or on the bench.
“My wife says that any time she sees Shieldsy warming up we must be in trouble because they’re bringing him on, so I don’t know whether he knows that or not but when you see him coming on you know he’s there to steady the ship. Shieldsy just has massive big game experience.”
A long spell in the St Finbarr’s ranks means Shields appreciates their current status.
Senior relegation (2007) and a trio of county final losses (’09-10 and ’17) occurred before their breakthrough in Cork in 2018 and now a Munster crown propels them to the All-Ireland series with a clash against Kilcoo looming in a fortnight.
It’s a fresh chapter for a club with a storied history.
“We wouldn’t put ourselves (under) pressure like that,” says Shields.
“They were a unique group, they dominated All-Ireland clubs at senior level, hurling and football. The likes of Jimmy Barry, there’s no one come near Jimmy Barry-Murphy, he’s the king of the Barrs, the king of Cork But look we’re just happy we’re there, we’re happy we gave something back to the fans, our own crowd. They put in a lot of work at grassroots and all that, it’s great to see the fans there, everyone today they were loving it.
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