New vintage aiming to bring glory days back to Borrisokane CC
By Damian Lawlor
BORRISOKANE CC
v
COLAISTE NA COIRIBE, GALWAY
Saturday 23rd March
Duggan Park, Ballinasloe (note change of venue from print version)
Throw-in @ 2.00pm (E.T.)
Former Offaly dual player Sean Ryan seems to have taken management in his stride despite retiring from the inter-county scene just over a year ago.
Ryan has led his hardworking Borrisokane Community College side into the final of the All Ireland Post-Primary ‘C’ Championship and stands just one game away now from clinching a badly-needed national title.
Through the hard work of retired teacher TJ Egan and others the school was a hurling powerhouse at ‘A’ level during the 1990's but in recent years silverware has not forced the school cabinets to creak. However, the vision and hard work of Birr man, Ryan, among others, is now evident as the college go in search of the Cusack Cup.
Ryan recently called time on his inter-county career after thirteen seasons of service to the Faithful which saw him accumulate 95 competitive appearances between league and championship in both hurling and football.
A loyal servant to the Offaly cause, he debuted for the footballers under Kevin Kilmurray in 2006 when they were plying their trade in Division 1A and featured off the bench against Cork, Mayo, Tyrone, Kerry and Monaghan.
The following year he tried both codes with great success and made his senior hurling debut at midfield under John McIntyre in their four-point Qualifier defeat to Tipperary, finishing with an impressive tally of 1-2.
Despite Offaly's fortunes wavering, Ryan stayed loyal to the hurlers for the last six years and was captain in 2017 with his last appearance coming in their disappointing 2018 Leinster SHC round-robin defeat to Dublin in June.
Now the Birr man is also excelling in a managerial role. He saw his Borrisokane side qualify for the Cusack Cup final following a defeat of Colásite Naomh Cormac 1-15 to 0-14 in his home pitch, Birr, three weeks ago. Before that they had defeated St. Anne’s Community College, Killaloe in the Munster final.
Ryan’s side, unsurprisingly, play with great heart and tenacity. And he doesn’t care what club they are from. If they are good enough for his team they will play.
“It would be all the one to me if I had 15 Borrisokane players on the starting team,” he says with ten different clubs providing players to the panel.
To read more, pick up a copy of this weeks Nenagh Guardian locally or subscribe to our e-paper to access it online each Wednesday.