Watford nursing manager leads Irish hurling team to glory

Martin Denny, 58, grew up playing football for clubs including Watford’s Gadeside Rangers and only got involved in the Irish national sport after the family moved there in 2004. 

On Sunday (October 9), he managed Dungourney to a Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship victory over Cloughduv at the 45,000-capacity Páirc Uí Chaoimh, in which his son Ryan scored a crucial goal.

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It was the first time Dungourney had won a senior county championship in 100 years, and something he described as "a bit like Watford going to Wembley".

He said: "Dungourney is smaller than Sarratt or Chipperfield. It's a big achievement, a bit like when we [Watford] were in the first division."

The former Northwick Park Hospital psychiatric nurse had watched hurling at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in 1994, when his brother-in-law, Eddie Geaney, hurled for St Catherine’s in that year’s county intermediate final.

He had also soaked up lore from nursing colleague Martin Baker, brother of two-time All-Ireland winning Clare midfielder Ollie Baker.

But his involvement in the small ball game began in earnest when his wife Aldine moved to her family home in Dungourney with their two young children in 2004.

While he continued playing football after the move, his then seven-year-old son Ryan got more interested in hurling, despite never having picked up a hurley before.

The nursing manager said that as his son got older, he began helping local junior teams as the family wanted to be more involved in the community.

This led to him eventually being asked to manage the adult team, including his son, now 24, in 2017.

Winning Dungourney Hurling Team. Picture: Martin Denny (Image: Martin Denny)

He explained that, due to picking up the sport later, he sticks to the management while “the coaches do the coaching”, adding that his background as manager at Watford and Bushey Community Mental Health influenced his style.

He said: “It’s about fine tuning and watching how the opposition play. There are lots of ways to set up a hurling side.

“I’ve always been into tactics and numbers.

“I suppose there are transferable skills from nursing, managing a team and giving people a pat on the back or telling them where to improve.”

Victorious captain Dylan Healy and team leaving Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Picture: Martin Denny (Image: Martin Denny)

In hurling, each team has 15 players on the field and most teams choose from a squad of 30, but true underdogs Dungourney had just 24.

The whole family got caught up in the club's cup run, with his father John flying in from Luton and mother Sue agonising over the “nail-biting" game even if the final score of 1:16 0:13 was "pretty comfortable for a hurling game".

Martin added that, despite switching focus to hurling, he tries to get back to see friends and attend Watford games, most recently a three-one "battering" from Man City.

Ryan and John Denny. Picture: Martin Denny (Image: Martin Denny)

If the Hornets' return to winning ways seems unlikely, Martin has proved that least one Watford manager can have sporting success - even if it is in a different sport in a foreign country.

"I must be the first Englishman to manage a Cork County Cup-winning side," he added.

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