Fergus Ryan on his coaching journey with Mallow, Cork and now Douglas

It has been a good league campaign for Douglas in the Red FM Hurling League and for new boss Fergus Ryan the progress to date has been very encouraging for all concerned.

For the Mallow-born coach, it has been a very interesting journey.

“I played in my young days with Mallow but got into coaching very early in my career and at the age of 30 I actually coached Dromina when they played in the intermediate grade in 2006-2007,” Ryan said.

The majority of Ryan’s coaching time was spent with Mallow, but he moved to a Limerick club in his bid to get some experience.

“I joined Effin which is based in Ballyshonakin the club better known as Nicky Quaid’s base which was a good experience, but I then moved on to coaching a number of Cork development squads."

Moving forward Ryan acted as a selector under Denis Ring with the Cork minor team that reached the All-Ireland final of 2017 and later moved up to the U20 set up again under the stewardship of Ring.

It was then time for Ryan to take a step back from the sport.

“My daughter was born in 2018 and I prioritised home life although I helped Ger Manley when he was involved with Mallow when they won promotion to the senior grade.

“I then gave two years with the Mallow minor team and last year I was involved with Clyda Rovers which was a very enjoyable year."

It was then time to sit down with his wife Irene to discuss his next move.

“I wanted to get back coaching at a higher level as my daughter is now approaching seven and I was very lucky Douglas rang me earlier this year and the rest is history.” 

Getting the opportunity to coach at the top tier of Cork hurling is something Ryan wanted to do and he was surprised the opportunity came so quickly for him.

“After being out of the mix for a while I thought it would be a case of biding my time but thankfully Douglas gave me the opportunity I yearned for."

HOPE

The league campaign has given many of the Douglas faithful hope for the coming championship as Ryan reflected on their games to date.

“We started off with an away win at Kanturk with two late goals getting us over the line, but we were given a lesson about life in the fast lane for their game against Sars as they beat us handily with their Cork senior players available on the day." 

In the words of Ryan, that game proved a great lesson going forward.

It was an eye opener for me and the management team as Sars showed us the level we needed to be at if we are to be competitive at this level." 

"Carrigaline were next on the horizon for Douglas and they managed a hard-earned win but after a promising first half away to Charleville they were easily defeated.

A home win against Blackrock saw them travel to Carrigtwohill a game that Ryan believes was their best of the campaign.

“We gave a near-perfect display over the hour and defeated a very talented Carrigtwohill side but our home against the Barrs was one we left behind us as they were missing many key players but at the end of the day, it was also a game we could have lost before settling for a draw." 

The penultimate league game saw Douglas battle hard to grind out an impressive home win over Fr O’Neill’s with the final league clash against Glen Rovers now a crucial fixture for both clubs.

The forthcoming championship campaign is what all clubs are looking at and Ryan believes they have a very tough group, but they will be ready for the hurdles they are about to face.

“When I took over my mindset was nice guys win nothing and my philosophy when I joined Douglas is that they will be a hard team to defeat on any given day.

“It’s all about staying in the fight and when you are up against the Barrs, Blackrock and Kanturk in the championship you basically have got to ready to roll your sleeves up for battle." 

In the words of Ryan his side will be underdogs in the group, but he is hoping his players embrace the challenge.

“When we have a full complement of players available I do honestly believe we will be formidable opponents for any side and our ambition will be similar to all our opposing teams and that’s to get out of the group." 

There is little doubt Douglas have brought a winning mentality manager to their camp and it will be interesting to see how the players respond come championship time.