Ashbourne Cup win for UCC completed inter-varsity set for John Grainger

When UCC beat UCD in the Ashbourne Cup final last weekend, it bridged a 20-year gap.

Since the 2003 victory, the Cork college had lost ten finals in third-level camogie’s showpiece competition. It meant that ending of the drought resulted in UCC GAA development officer John Grainger, who assumed that role in 2008, completing the set of inter-varsity titles across the four Gaelic codes.

The Cloughduv native was relieved to see the trophy come back to the Western Road after so many disappointments.

“I never counted [how many finals],” he says, “you know the way sometimes, with something you don't really want to think about until it happens.

“But there were so many days where we were beaten by better teams, no problem – but we were beaten by dodgy square goals, we were beaten by dodgy referees, beaten by ourselves. Every excuse you could have, we went through it.

“And then, this year, like you'd have to pay tribute to Michelle Gould, Ken Bullman, Dave Ellis, it just kind of clicked together.

“There was an episode this year where we went to Galway to play University of Galway, and when we reached there, the game was postponed, and through the jigs and reels and rules and all that, they came down to play us the following day, in a pitch that was waterlogged about an hour before the game.

“The groundsmen here did a great job, the pitch was playable, and we beat Galway on grass and then the following Tuesday, we went up and beat UL on astro. So they did it on both surfaces. A

“Then the final, after so many years of biting your nails and so on, you could see when you were 12 points up, 20 minutes to go, you kind of say, ‘There's no way we're going to lose this.’”

As a player, Grainger won five consecutive Fitzgibbon Cup medals under Fr Michael O’Brien but on the conclusion of his arts degree, the idea of him returning to the college in the role he is in now wasn’t an inevitability.

A stint as a games officer in Imokilly, visiting the schools of the division, provided a good foundation – he credits the East Cork board with being ahead of their time – and so, when Eamonn Ryan retired, Grainger was chosen to succeed him.

The near-two-decade period since has brought success and near misses but the over-arching theme is players being developed for their clubs and possibly counties, while remembering what they represent.

“I keep saying to the guys that the jersey is the most important thing we have,” Grainger says, “the skull and bones.

“I remember one time we played a fresher football game and, when the jerseys came back, there were two missing.

“It wasn’t just the physical jerseys, it was what they represented, and I told the lads that there were great players – well-known guys from Kerry, Cork, Tipp, wherever, who had worn the jersey – being disrespected by it.

“About three minutes later, one of the lads came up to the front of the bus and said, ‘We found these on the floor, John,’ and they gave me back the jerseys.

“That said to me the respect that people do have for college and what we're trying to do.

“Lots of people out there don't like us in the county championship and some county managers don't want us, all this kind of stuff. But, do you know what, there's a bigger picture.”

And that bigger picture informs the view when there are setbacks like Wednesday’s Sigerson Cup loss to UL. A new academic year and a new group of freshers rolls around quickly.

“We’ve all had as many bad days as good,” he says.

“I always say, the following day, you have to pay your electricity bill or there's a puncture in the car or whatever – you just move on.

“It's the next day and there's always something else.”