23 YEARS HE’S soldiered as a senior hurler for Lismore but relegation for the Waterford club may have signalled the end of Dan Shanahan’s playing career.
The 2007 Hurler of the Year and current Waterford senior selector was left heartbroken by defeat to De La Salle on Sunday evening, a loss that ended Lismore’s 46-year stint as a senior force.
Shanahan admitted to The42 this evening that he’s hurting “big time” and will take time out to consider his future before deciding whether or not to commit in 2016, when Lismore will attempt to gain promotion from the intermediate ranks.
“It hurts big time, I won’t tell a lie,” Shanahan said.
“We’ve been a senior club for 46 years and I played for 23 of them.
“There was just one game I didn’t start in that time, against Stradbally when I was injured but came off the bench. That was a long time ago!
“We needed a result and it’s disappointing the way went down.
“If we were playing against anyone else bar De La Salle, we would have won the game.
“It’s the calibre of player they have, unbelievable, and they shouldn’t be where they are.
“But that’s the luck we had this year. We’re not the worst team in this division but now we’re intermediate next year and we have to get out of it.”
Shanahan pinpointed emigration and retirements as two of the factors that contributed to Lismore’s relegation but he believes that if the current crop stick together, they’re good enough to bounce straight back up.
Whether Shanahan himself will be involved, he’s not quite sure.
“I don’t know, I’m 39 next January and gave 23 years at senior level and all my life underage.
“I won’t leave them down if they’re stuck but if they have the numbers to compete…there comes a time when you have to say enough’s enough but I won’t leave them down if I have the legs to keep going.
“Australia and America hit us hard. We had lads that we’d thought would play on and didn’t. They retired and when you lose three or four fellas, you’re struggling. That’s the way it goes.”
