DARREN Lawn wore a satisfied smile as he soaked in Ballinderry’s dramatic All-Ireland IFC semi-final victory over Kerry kingpins Austin Stacks at Parnell Park.
Plumes of steam streamed off his head and arms as the heat of battle held firm against the weekend’s winter chill, a procession of passers-by offering pats on the back or grasping hands as the Shamrocks celebrations kicked into gear.
This one meant a lot to those who defied the weather forecast to make the trip to the capital; it meant a lot to Darren Lawn too, in a year he is unlikely to ever forget.
Because, having been played in fits and starts through Derry, the 31-year-old has become their man for the biggest of days – bagging the last-gasp winner in their epic Ulster final victory over Arva, and leading by example as the Stacks were reeled in on Saturday.
When he was replaced by Matt Quinn in added time, a final date with Connacht champions Crossmolina all but secured, Lawn was roared to the line by the Shamrocks support.
Yet, had things worked out differently, he might well have been with friends and family in the stand rather than carrying the fight out on the field.
“All year I’ve been in and out, in and out,” he laughed.
“At the start of the year I said I wasn’t playing unless I got myself into shape. Last year and the previous year I was badly out of shape, I just said I wasn’t playing unless I did, then to get the call-up there… it’s class like.
“Them young cubs have been pulling us through, they bring the legs, and then basically the older heads try and calm the whole thing down when the cubs get a bit excited. They want to just keep on going because they have the legs, I suppose then us older boys can’t keep on doing that forever.”
Alongside the likes of Ryan Bell and Gareth McKinless, Lawn is one of the elder statesmen on a reinvigorated side.
Indeed, despite being on the panel since turning 17, that pair’s first year as starters came in 2013 – when the Shamrocks lifted the Seamus Mac Ferran Cup, before losing out to eventual champions St Vincent’s in the All-Ireland semi-final.
However, there hasn’t been so much to shout about in the years between, with Lawn admitting there were many times he considered bringing a premature end to his playing days.
“My wife’s been hearing it this last five years to tell you the truth.
“Listen, I had been playing with it, but big Enda Muldoon and boys like that keep telling me that you play until you’re not fit to play basically…you’re longer retired than you are playing.
“You see here [what it means], it’s bringing the whole community together and the amount of pats on the back… every other year previous, we haven’t really got a run at Derry, we got threw down to intermediate and we were just told we had to have a go at it.
“Our main goal all year was to get into senior football and see where this year takes us. We never thought we’d actually be here again so it’s class that this group of lads have got the chance.”
And they have had to do it the hard way, after coming through a series of nip and tuck battles on their way to Croke Park.
Trailing by two, and without a score for 32 minutes, it was Lawn’s point that ignited the Ballinderry charge against Austin Stacks – the Shamrocks going on to dominate the final 20 minutes to claim a four-point win.
And he hopes those tight tussles can stand to them again on Sunday.
“It was a very high tempo game, -Austins Stacks is probably the best team we’ve played this year. But this group of lads have done the same thing all year, kept going down then stretch… we knew we would keep on driving as the game went on, and the hard work at the start of the year stood to us at the finish.
“Funny, I said to my wife the other day, I’d just love to get a run to Croke Park - that it would be the icing on the cake.”
