From goalkeeper to forward: John Meyler moved Declan Dalton up the pitch

The name Declan Dalton brings a few adjectives to mind. Powerful for one. Strong another.

The fact he spent the majority of his underage career as a goalkeeper is secondary to any conversation about the Cork powerhouse.

Aside from those long-distance frees though – there isn’t much else to his game that screams goalkeeper.

A monster in the air, yes – but not in the traditional way a goalkeeper would be.

His arsenal is diverse, and he is incredibly tough.

That’s what has made him into the Cork senior hurler he is, and why he’s played such a prominent role at half-forward under Pat Ryan.

But going from goalkeeper to wing-forward isn’t an easy switch to make. It’s one thing to do that – but to become such a key inter-county hurler after is phenomenal.

For his father Robbie Dalton – it’s not much of a surprise, given his determination to make that happen was always there.

“But like his skillset and the belt of the ball he has, he can actually do anything with the ball really,” Robbie begins. “That always stood to him.

“Any night I was up training a team, Deccie was always with me pucking balls – 20, 30 yards out at seven or eight years of age, not a bother pucking it over the bar.

“One day, I think it was U15, we were stuck for forwards. We were playing Blackrock one day and Deccie turned around to me and said 'I don’t want to play in goal'. I said 'You’ll have to play where you’re told to play’, but there was no give in his way and no give in my way.

“So I went up to the field to the lads and said, 'He doesn't want to play in goal today.; So the three of us came to an agreement anyway that we’d play him outfield; he might want to go back in goals the following week,” he says. “We named him centre-forward against Blackrock down in our own field.

“They were beating us all the way up, but that was the first time we beat Blackrock, that day.

We realised we had to find a way to get him out from then on. That was when he went outfield with the club.

“He was still playing with the development squads in goal, and Imokilly.” 

That lasted until his time with the Cork minors did – with Dalton deciding he had served his time between the posts. He was ready to make the change with the inter-county set-up too.

ELEVATED

Under John Meyler and Denis Ring he transformed his game to the next level with the Cork U21s. He first made his mark in 2017, sending Cork to the Munster final with a last gasp penalty against Waterford, which Ring recalls.

“There came a point where we said we really need to look at him as an outfield player,” Ring explains. “He played two years at U21 for us outfield and got the winning goal against Waterford down in Walsh Park in his first year.

“Waterford were up two points, and he buried the penalty late on to win the game for us.

“At minor he was an exceptional goalkeeper, he played for Imokilly in that role.

IMPACT

“I would have seen him playing for school in Youghal, with Pobalscoil na Tríonóide outfield, and his scoring rate was incredible.

He’s one of the most committed I’ve ever seen at minor or U21 level.

“There came a time where he really wanted to play as an outfield player, and I remember seeing him, as an older Harty Cup player playing for Youghal, and in a game where they scored about 1-15, he must have got 1-14!

“His attention to detail is phenomenal. When you go to a training session, you’d be there up to an hour in advance getting stuff ready, and Deccie would be there before you.

“He’d be out practicing frees, or pucking against the wall. His skill level is exceptional.” 

Given the demands Dalton places on himself – getting benched for Patrick Collins at U21 level only brought more from the Fr O’Neill’s star.

If there would be no place between the posts – centre forward would suffice.

“He was sub keeper, and there were a couple of challenge games,” Robbie Dalton adds. "John Meyler put Deccie outfield for one of them.

“He had his goalkeeping hurley, but he went out and got 1-10 or 1-9 on the day. That was it, Meyler told him to bring his outfield hurley the next day. The rest was history after that.

“He was very strong-headed that way in that he always wanted to play outfield, he had in his mind that if he worked hard enough that he might make it.

“He kept at it, he worked hard at it, and it’s a great credit to him.”