A hurling stalwart taken too soon

By Niall Gartland

A GAEL held in the highest esteem by all, Mattie Lennon’s death at the age of 62 has been met with a pronounced sense of sadness throughout the Ulster GAA community.

The Derrynoose native was a hugely respected coach and manager in hurling circles and beyond. He managed both his native Armagh and Monaghan before spending six seasons in charge of the Tyrone hurlers spanning two separate stints. More recently, he oversaw the fortunes of the Armagh camogs.

As a person, he was a candid communicator and a health and fitness fanatic. He brought those traits to management – and one of his crowning achievements was guiding Tyrone to a historic Nickey Rackard Cup title in 2014, a team captained by the late Damian Casey.

A key member of that team was Conor Grogan, who recently won an Ulster Intermediate Championship title with his club Éire Óg, Carrickmore. Lennon’s no-nonsense management style had a marked impact on Grogan and his teammates – but Grogan wished to emphasise that Lennon brought much more to the table than fiery motivational speeches.

“Mattie came on board with us in 2014 and we’d a shocking year beforehand. I remember playing Roscommon in Athleague in 2013 and they absolutely hockeyed us – I’m talking a 20-point job. It was our final game of the season so we were at a low ebb, but Mattie changed everything for us.

“He was so motivating that he actually had us wired. I remember we’d a game against Down on the Saturday, and we had a meeting in Garvaghey on Thursday night, Mattie made such a brilliant speech that we left the dressing room thinking ‘we’re going to win this.’ I think a bin got destroyed in the dressing room, right enough!

“He was old-school in that respect but there was much more to him as a manager. He was ahead of his time for strength and conditioning.

“He was probably the first manager I had who placed a big emphasis on the right food before games and training.”

Lennon stepped down after two massively successful seasons in the post, leading Tyrone to back-to-back league promotions on top of that first-ever Nickey Rackard Cup title. He returned for a second stint just a year later, and the affection in which he was held by the Tyrone hurlers was absolute.

“Mattie was a deadly players’ man. When boys got injured, he really fought their corner to make sure they got the best treatment,” said Grogan.

“I was reading the tributes last week, and there were posts from various athletic clubs, Armagh, Monaghan, all expressing how much Mattie did for them, and how passionate he was.

“He was such a brilliant man, and he took his health so seriously – he had a plant-based diet and was big into running.

“He used to beat us in runs around the track in Garvaghey, I remember one of the pre-season runs, he said ‘I shouldn’t be beating yous!” but he was an absolute flying machine.”