Cork’s Robert Downey hails ‘unreal’ Glen Rovers club mate Patrick Horgan

Patrick Horgan put in one of the greatest individual performances of recent years against Kilkenny on Sunday, but still ended up on the losing team.

Scoring 3-10, the Rebels sharpshooter was unable to save his side from defeat.

At 31, it’s unclear if the Glen Rovers star will ever get his hands on a Celtic cross, as the Rebels look to end a wait stretching back to 2005. However, he also acts as a leader in the group, providing guidance to the next generation, as testified by club-mate Robert Downey who recently joined the Cork senior squad.

“We’re friends at this stage, from being down in the Glen club all the time mucking around and we travel to training together,” explained Downey.

“It was a bit easier because you’re coming into an environment that you’ve never been in before, you mightn’t know how things work. It’s grand being able to just go away and talk to them (older club mates) and they’ll point you in the right direction.”

Despite being regarded as one of the top forwards in the game, Horgan hasn’t forgotten his roots in the north-side city club.

“He’s unbelievable,” continued Downey. “He’s unreal. You could go down to the Glen field there today and he’d be down there mucking around again and taking frees.

“He’s brilliant with all the kids in the Glen. Anyone that comes up and asks him for a photograph or autograph he’s more than willing to help you out.

“He’s brilliant, anytime I’ve ever had to go and ask him for advice on anything, he’s been brilliant to all of us. He’s an unbelievable club man. He knows that club comes first and when he’s finished up with Cork he’ll go back to the Glen.

“The performances he puts in with the Glen are unbelievable too, he racks up some unbelievable tallies in that.”

For Downey, Sunday was a disappointing end to the season.

“When you lose fellas kind of keep to themselves, just sitting down with their heads down and that,” he said, describing the dressing room at full-time.

“It wasn’t a nice place to be, to be honest. There’s a few fellas on the road a good few years now and I kind of feel for them too. It must have been hard for them to take. We would have thought that we’d have gotten a bit further. We feel we could have challenged a bit more for an All-Ireland, so it was disappointing.

“Training four or five nights a week since I don’t know when, back in November. It’s hard but we’re lucky enough we have the U20s we’ll get back on the horse next week and drive on again.”

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