BANDON native Ronan Crowley has enjoyed another successful playing season with the London senior hurling team.

Crowley who was a brilliant dual player with his beloved Bandon GAA club also enjoyed considerable success with both the Cork minor and intermediate hurling teams prior to his relocation to England.

He won a Munster minor medal with Cork in 2008 and helped the county to All-Ireland intermediate glory in 2014 while with Bandon he won PIHC, IHC, IFC, and JAFC medals.

Since his move to the UK for work purposes in recent years, the talented hurler has lined out with both the Lancashire and London inter-county hurling teams.

Ronan who works as a cardiac radiographer at Clementine Churchill Hospital is currently in his second season with the London senior hurlers. The London senior hurlers have lost a number of matches this season in the closing stages of games, a statistic he admits needs to be rectified. 

“Last year was my first year with London. We had a mixed campaign. We finished mid-table in the league and the Christy Ring Cup. This year’s league campaign has been a case of what could have been I think. We lost four matches."

"We were winning three of them at the end of the 70 minutes only to lose by one or two points after added time against Tyrone, Donegal, and Mayo. If this happened once it might be unlucky, but for it to occur three times is probably down to more than bad luck. It's something we will have to work on,” he said.

The talented hurler said the standard of hurling in the Christy Ring Cup and section 2B of the national league is stronger than what most people expect. 

“The standard in the 2B/Christy Ring Cup is probably stronger than most would expect. Kildare who won the Christy Ring Cup last year has topped division 2A this year. They also recently drew with Offaly and have made the league final in the higher grade.” 

Ronan strongly believes that the London senior hurling team has the ability to replicate Kildare’s success, but cites the huge turnover in their playing numbers on an annual basis as a major drawback. 

“London's ability to build and progress to higher grades has a number of uncontrollable factors limiting us. We have 19 new players on our panel this year, so the player turnover is huge. However, the interest levels from players and the management is definitely there. 

"Training this year has been at a very high level. We've been doing strength and conditioning work since November."

“The GAA community in London is massive. London County Board does everything it can to help all the various teams progress. We are also hampered by the fact that Ruislip has no floodlights which means that both the London hurling and football teams have to use a local rugby club’s facilities to train which is a slight disadvantage,” he added.

The London senior hurler believes that an increase in media coverage for the non-traditional hurling counties would help develop hurling in the lower grades. 

“Developing hurling in the counties outside of Division 1 and the Liam McCarthy Cup would be greatly helped by an increase in media coverage of our league and championships. We need to get the kids from these counties into hurling. Kids from the likes of Donegal and Tyrone are unlikely to see the counties hurling teams on TV, which might make the appeal larger. 

"Sligo are probably a county that is a good example of what can happen. They were competing in the Lory Meagher and Division 3B only a few years ago and I played against them regularly. They've improved massively in a relatively short period of time which is good to see.” 

NEW ROLE

Ronan who made his name as a skillful forward on the various Bandon hurling teams has been playing at midfield for the London senior hurlers this season. He is enjoying his new role. 

“I played the whole match at midfield against Meath. Aside from all the running, I am enjoying my new role. It is an enjoyable role as you definitely see more of the ball and you still have the license to affect the scoreboard. We have two other Cork players in our squad. Cian Lordan from Courcey Rovers and Kevin Fennelly from Killeagh. The panel is made up of lads from 14 different counties. 

"We have three weeks to prepare for the first-round game in the Christy Ring Cup which will be played in three weeks’ time so training sessions are getting more intense. Hopefully, the work will pay off.” 

“London's a fantastic city to live in,” said the former Bandon club player. 

“I am never short of things to do and there are endless sporting events every weekend."

"The GAA is probably second to none in terms of making a new circle of friends. Playing with London also means we spend a lot of weekends in Ireland. The flights home are usually lively.” 

Ronan said even his work colleagues in the hospital share his enthusiasm for hurling. 

“My colleagues are interested. My manager, who is English came to one of our matches and loved it. They are always asking questions about what the hurley is. Due to the travel distance, most players take our hurley and GAA gear to work. This always prompts some funny looks on the tube.”