SHC: Dowdall ‘privileged to be playing with a lot of fantastic players’

A week after picking up a fifth football medal with St Loman’s, Mullingar, Paddy Dowdall garnered a ninth SHC memento with Clonkill yesterday, to bring his Westmeath senior championship haul to an astonishing 14 – and maybe there are more to come.

However, modest to a fault, after the match the army man was keen to deflect the attention away from himself. He merely stated: “I’m just privileged to be playing with a lot of fantastic footballers and a lot of fantastic hurlers.”

Dowdall continued: “It was a fantastic win in what was a huge game given the conditions. It was a storm at times out there today. In fairness to our lads, they stood up and that last-minute goal by Niall Mitchell in normal time brought us back into the game.

“We knew there was more there in the tank in extra-time and a lot of our players had the experience of being in these situations before. Thank God, we came out the other end of it.

“Whatever about the skill on the day, the endeavour, the hitting, and the punishment that bodies were taking in that weather on both sides – both teams put in a huge effort. I would say for people looking in on Iarmhí TV it was an entertaining game.”

Reflecting on Clonkill’s senior/intermediate double over the course of the weekend, Dowdall concluded: “A couple of years ago, we had the chance to do the double and we left it behind us.

“But that little bit of experience we picked up then brought us over the line today, and the subs that came in turned the game in our favour.”