In a desperate bid to rescue his career and reclaim the form that made him one of the top wingers in the county, Declan Adams has turned to the faith healing powers of Joe Williams in Rathkeale, Co. Limerick. Adams has been plagued by back troubles since his late teens and has nearly become best friends with his chiropractor over the last seven years. However this short-term solution is reaping ever shorter term pain relief and the “miracle worker” from Rathkeale is seen as a last resort in a bid to rescue a highly decorative if somewhat controversial career.
Adams has spent the majority of his career with Bunratty, a career which also include spells with Newmarket and Park Rangers of Limerick for the last few seasons. Adams early forages into football with Bunratty left the footballer bruised and battered, such was the physical superiority of opposing teams at underage level. But it was during this time that players such as Adams, Deegan, Nash, Naughton, McGahon, Fitzpatrick would develop the steeliness that would underpin the success that followed these illustrious names in the late 1990s with the youths team of Bunratty. Under the coaching presence of former manager, Jerry Hayes, these players learned about the more technical aspects of the game, such as the bunching like sheep concept. But it was in 1998, a plan was set in motion to create history for the club, as David Jones and David Considine began to rebuild a youths team capable of challenging the big time once again. And while they kept the core players, like Adams onboard, they began to recruit from Shannon as well, and they looked to St. Caimins to fill a team with players full of belief, passion and no amount of skill. Players such as the flame haired and formidable centre half George Clune, stylish full backs Keith Delahunty and Barry Ryan, and the attacking genius’s such as Sean Lavin, Brian Casey, Jimmy Houlihan and Shane O Connor were all signed, and so a sleeping giant was awoken in Bunratty.
The transition period was to be a swift one as many of these new players had years of experience playing with some of Bunrattys players in the formidable Caimins youths teams. Immediately Jones and Considine brought a level of professionalism and comradeship to the team that was unknown in the past. The training was instantly intensified as Considine sought to bring fitness levels to a Clare hurling level with frequent (too frequent!) trips to the hill in Shannon for a few hill runs. As Bunratty got into their stride, picking up win after win, and surrounded by the quality of players in whose company Adams believed he belonged, Adams began turning in the kind of displays that everyone knew he was capable of. But it was at the turn of the year that Adams began having hamstring trouble that would be traced back to his, well, back. This coincided with what must still today be regarded as one of the most embarrassing days in the history of the football club. January 1999, it was to be Bunrattys greatest day, the best prepared team in Bunrattys history was to, in the words of manager David Jones, give it a ‘real go’ against the might of Limerick in the Junior cup. Adams recalls that day and simply believes the team ‘bottled it’. Beaten 9-0 it was a confidence drainer that Adams thought was consigned to the past when he was twelve. Adams did not play well himself that day, “the head dropped big time after the second goal, we just collapsed, we didn’t know where to look, all our heads were down, we were just not good enough. We’ll never know if we could’ve challenged them if we’d shown some bottle that day. I remember half time, and Jones and Considine threatening to quit, calling us a disgrace, but we knew that ourselves, we didn’t need to be told’.
The result of that defeat came to a head when the management team called crisis talks with the players in an emotionally charged and heated discussion on where the players and management thought the team was going. One player questioned the team formation, labelling it as ludicrous and the persistence with a sweeper as nonsensical while several other players questioned the overemphasis on the fitness training of the panel and lack of ball work and tactical nous! The result of this meeting was two new players were signed, both of whom would be competing with Adams for a place on the team. Incredibly, Jones and Considine kept faith with the same eleven for the next match despite the new signings, after a nine goal defeat there was to be no scapegoat. While this can be regarded as admirable, it may also reveal a stubbornness, a lack of quality and depth within the panel or a lack of ideas and willingness on the part of management to change things and try something different. Overall January 1999 was a black months for the youths team, losing 4 of their five games, getting knocked out of 3 competitions, and only salvaging the month and, the season with a win in the meaningless Clare Munster Area final to restore some level of confidence. For the rest of the season, as Bunrattys confidence returned with win after win, Adams steadily drained, his hamstring causing more and more trouble and he was no longer running freely. His head dropped and the flying winger who liked to shoot from distance disappeared as he resembled a lumberjack caught out at sea, and he struggled to find form and a place in the team. He finished the season with a youth league medal, a youths cup medal and a few area finals to his name.
The future though would be a series of peaks and troughs for Adams as he sought to regain his form and defy his injury concerns. Over the next few years, Adams began his regular visits to the chiropractor to relieve the pain in his back to enable him to continue playing. His performances however were not too adversely affected as he elevated himself to a level which had not been seen before, despite the pain he was suffering inside. Such was his form that Adams made the Clare team for a period that was seen as a golden era for Clare soccer. These performances convinced Adams to try his luck in the Limerick league, like many of his fellow Bunratty players. But the loss of Adams and the others players hit Bunratty hard and after two double successes at junior level they were relegated to division 1 last year, bringing the club to its knees, in such a way that had not been seen since the debacle of Limerick in ‘99.
Adams believes Bunratty need to restore the passion that was so evident in 1999 if the club is to regain premier league status. While legends of that period such as Clune and Casey may never return, the core heartbeat is still in evidence, and with Adams set to make a dramatic return to the club this year, Bunratty may yet prove to be a stubborn obstacle for the opposition. However Adams return is not yet certain. Indeed Adams has hardly kicked a football in the last year, rupturing his cruciate ligament in a match last year (he strenuously denies it occurred in a niteclub incident). His return has been frustrating, having been given the all clear to return, Adams damaged his knee almost immediately upon his return. This time however, he has vowed to do it right. Strangely enough, those words have come back to haunt him as Adams suffered yet another blow to his knee recently, in an incident which this time he openly admits occurred in a bar, an incident for which he also claims no recollection. Another criticism revolving around Adams attitude to getting his knee right, is his noted absence from the gym which is critical to a recovery from this type of injury. One wonders if the new Bunratty manager will tolerate such self indulgent behaviour.
On analysing the footballer in Adams, he has always had the touch and ability to strike a ball with ferocious power striking fear into opposing goalkeepers, but one commentator is not so sure ‘the killer instinct has often deserted him in pressure situations and great players aren’t found wanting for conviction. For a winger he has hardly set the world alight with his crossing, is rarely seen in his own half, dosen’t get on the end of enough crosses and only uses his left leg as a prop. Other than that, he’s not half bad’! If as expected Adams returns to Bunratty, if the miracle worker can cure him of his ills, and if, Adams can recapture his former self, then Bunratty will surely have a player of substance to help carry them back to the good days!
