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'All-Ireland winning goal struggles to match buzz of a winner' | Brian McMahon

Comparing accolades across sport is a naturally unyielding task.  Very few athletes can rank the...



Racing

'All-Ireland winning goal struggles to match buzz of a winner' | Brian McMahon

Comparing accolades across sport is a naturally unyielding task. 

Very few athletes can rank the satisfaction associated with success in different sports, however, this week's Friday Night Racing guest is one of those who can.

The winning goalscorer in Clare's 1997 All-Ireland minor victory, Brian McMahon is now an established racing trainer and joined Friday Night Racing to talk about his journey into the sport.

Growing up in a family with no connection to racing or horses, it was unlikely that McMahon would make it as a winning trainer.

While he achieved two winners at Navan Racecourse in one day last weekend, it was in 1997 when Clare won both the senior and minor hurling All-Irelands that McMahon first tasted sporting success at the highest level.

Scoring the winning goal for the minors in a two-point game, McMahon says it was a "fantastic day" for everyone from The Banner County.

"The county was on an absolute high" that year, McMahon recalls.

"Everyone was walking around with their chests out for the first time."

Prior to that success, Clare were a laughing stock to their neighbouring counties, McMahon remembered.

"The Tipperary lads and the Galway lads they'd be laughing at the Clare lads being trounced in Munster finals so we were kind of used to that. And to go around then in those years after with the chest out saying we were the All-Ireland champions."

While that made the victory all the more incredible, and McMahon admits he lived off the glory for a long while afterward, the Clare trainer added the achievement was still hard to compare to the buzz of training a winning horse.

"There is very little that matches the buzz of a winner, to be honest," he explains.

"The buzz and the kick out of it, you know, I imagine it's like being on some sort of drugs. The buzz out of a winner keeps you going for a long time, like."

You can watch McMahon's full interview on Friday Night Racing here.

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Brian Mcmahon