IN 2011, FORMER Irish Supersport champion Sean Hurley sat down with his mother to discuss his future.
They talked about the possibility of him running a marathon, a potential return to school, and plans to one day set up his own motorcycle racing team. They set out goals and he left the discussion with a clearer vision of what his future would hold.
Two weeks later Sean was killed in a road traffic accident when his car hit a ditch while driving to his home in Ballinhassig, Co Cork.
“It turned out to be his bucket list,” Paul Tobin tells The42. “No one was to know what would happen.”
Paul is manager of Team #109 Kawasaki, the Cork-based motorcycle race team set up as part of the Sean Hurley Young Rider Development Programme.
“There was about 15 items on the list and his friends and family decided to complete it for him.
“One was to run a race school and a race team. We picked up the baton on that and ran with it. It’s kind of grown arms and legs and kept going. This is where we are today.”
And where they are is on the brink of history.
In his first season on track in the Dickies Junior Supersport class, Derry rider Eunan McGlinchey is on course to land a first ever British Championship title for an Irish team.
Not only can the 20-year-old clinch the title this weekend at Brands Hatch Circuit in Kent, he’s on course to do it in style.
In his maiden season in the championship, he’s landed seven victories and another 14 podium finishes to open up a 43-point gap ahead of his nearest rival, Brian Hart.
In this, the penultimate race of the season, a seventh-place finish will be enough to secure the title.
“To win a British Championship would be incredible,” Paul says. “I’m sure Sean would be incredibly proud. Speechless.”
Eunan’s progress through the campaign is symptomatic of the work the team has done to be on the precipice of a first championship crown.
“It was his first time on the track — he’d raced on tarmac for the last 18 months because he had been involved in motocross before that,” Paul explains.
“He won a couple of championships last season at home and that’s why we decided to take him across this year.
“In his very first race at Donnington Park, he won that race by two thousandths of a second. It was quite a tight race.
“That set the tone for the rest of the year for us and every race that he’s been involved in since then.
“He’s racked up so many points that he could have claimed the championship in the last round.
“What makes it so impressive is that he’s never been to the UK tracks before. He had to learn the tracks as he went. He’s a special talent.”
Undoubtedly so, Eunan’s skills had to be honed to suit the championship and he’s had the help of British Supersport rider Glenn Irwin.
“Glenn does training with the guys and gives them programmes when they’re away from the track. He provides them with professional advice as to how to conduct themselves in interviews and with the media while they’re at the circuits.
“He goes out with the guys on a track walk every Thursday before every race meeting just to give them some of his wisdom and experience since he’s been competing on those tracks for the last seven or eight years.”
He added: “It’s great to have someone who is so experienced in the sport on the team and he wants to help the lads because he knows himself how difficult it was to go across and compete.”
Eunan’s “unusual style” made him stand out in circuits on this side of the Irish Sea, something that had to be ironed out as they went from race to race since April of this year.
“It was very loose. The bike used to get out of shape an awful lot. He was a very exciting rider to watch but he was always within an inch of crashing all the time.
“He was lucky to get away with crashes at home. Since riding the UK tracks, he’s adapted his style to the circuits in Britain. That’s a massive credit to him.
“Now, he looks far more accomplished and comfortable on the bike.”
With a historic victory on the horizon, Paul is looking to next season and how he can grow the team further.
“Eunan is probably good enough to go up to Supersport [a division with more powerful bikes] next season. We felt that if he goes in there, he’d probably be running within the top 15 more or less straightaway, and before the end of the year push into the top five.
“We said we’d start him in the Superstock next season. He’ll be a front-runner from the word go and therefore you’d be keeping his name in lights.”
With other riders involved with the team including Kevin Keyes and James McManus, Paul doesn’t need reminding how far the team has come in just four years.
“We only started out with one machine, but now you can see that this platform is working.
“Any riders that came over with us on the first day moved on into the championship themselves.
“We were able to give money to Irish riders back home to give them a bit of a head start for their season riding at home.
This is exactly where Sean would want us. He could only have dreamed of this.”
Sean’s absence will be felt tomorrow more than ever should Ireland’s fledgling team and rider claim victory, but the result will be a credit to his legacy and the type of platform he wanted to build all those years ago when he set out a vision for his own future.
A vision, unfortunately, that he never got to see through.
– Updated 10.38am: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Sean Hurley’s death in 2015; Sean died in November 2011.
She can’t even be blamed for the penalty, var made that decesion. No complaints at all, she was better than most.
@Hardly Normal: no she made the decision. Var didn’t change it as there wasn’t enough evidence to suggest a clear and obvious error from her original decision.
@Gareth Keenan: so she was right to give the penalty?
@Hardly Normal: well that’s the part of football that var will never necessarily clear up. I don’t think it was a penalty but I can see why she gave it on the initial viewing from her angle. Var then got to review a load of useless angles with none from behind the goal. So if they can’t see an obvious mistake from the original decision it has to stand. It’s never going to be a perfect science. I think their whole team refereed the game well. But no I don’t think she should have gave the penalty.
@Gareth Keenan: fair enough, very well reasoned to be honest.
The Ref and her team I thought had a solid game. I hope this sets a trend of if you are good enough you get the job and she was clearly well able to do it.
@Shane Murphy: Yeah fantastic job, didn’t take any nonsense from the players either, Azpilicueta was particularly in her face for the game and she shrugged it off. There were 2 or 3 poor decisions for awarding thrown-ins and a corner but low impact on the game.
@Graham Wilson: I think the introduction of female refs could help to reduce the amount of abuse, arguing and disrespect given to refs normally. Players are less likely to do that to a female ref, which is something to welcomed.
I think this is going to progress with more female officials. When they make mistakes they won’t be criticised or punished like the men due to their gender. A win a win for the governing bodies.
@Trevor Beacom:
Just a thought, but it might stamp out the harassment and abuse male refs get too. I’d imagine the boys would think twice before yelling abuse at a female?!
@Trevor Beacom: that a real sexist comment if they get it wrong they’ll be treated no different. Male give penalties for stupid thing.I hope we see more female refs
@Moya Power-kelly: it’s not sexiest moya but your response is exactly the reply I was expecting from some. I’ve seen and verbally abused Michelle (as an official) many times. I’ve also shook her hand after a few games. You’ve been to a few games where she’s been on the line yes?
@Trevor Beacom: Seen her a few times at Turners cross, top notch, great official, took no bull either from players. Took a few “spec savers” comments, but just laughed it off
@Trevor Beacom: If you treat someone differently because of their gender, that’s called sexism.
@Trevor Beacom: I consider that a seriously foolish and sexist comment; what possible evidence do you have to back it up?
@Blessopaddy: real name?
@Fr Chewy Louis: real name?
@Trevor Beacom: They’re right, it’s a sexist commented, you posted it, put on your big boy pants and own it now.
@Graham Wilson: it is not. If you have a problem with it take it up with eufa or fifa
I’ve got no problem with female refs but only so long that they’re qualified and not just because of pressure from snowflakes
@Eoin Murphy: of course they will be qualified. You think they’re just pulling random women off the street and making them ref football matches?
@The Bloody Nine: no but because of rapinoe during the wc fifa were going to have to do something like this sooner or later
@Eoin Murphy: Stephanie has reffed games in Lique 1 before the World Cup. Sian Massey has been an official in the Premier League for nearly a decade. This has nothing to do with Rapinoe, this has been coming because these officials are good enough as was seen last night.
@The Bloody Nine: ok fair enough then
@Eoin Murphy: I’m am Ex Referee, let me tell you this, the FAI don’t just hand you a jersey,cards & whistle and say off you go, there is an intensive training course for beginners following by training at each meeting of the ISRS (Referees Society) usually once a month and a full day or two at the end of each season in preparation for the next.
@Cork Truck Driver: *An ex referee*
@The Bloody Nine: 2 games and she gets a game like that, absolute rubbish, dozens of refs been around the block longer and never get showpiece games.
That penalty was a disgraceful decision , if she was a man people would be in here giving out yarns
@Peter Govan: Every penalty decision is ‘disgraceful’ these days. Boring. If you knew the true meaning of that word, maybe you wouldn’t throw it around so easily.
@Oliver Cronwell: Thanks Olly
@Oliver Cronwell: perhaps one of the few good things to come from the mouth of Cromwell :)
@Oliver Cronwell: Typical armchair referees.
I think the best compliment is that I didn’t notice the officlas at all, got the critical decisions right and thought they let the game flow with little fuss and liked that they allowed a bit of physicality, having done a bit of reffing going unnoticed means it’s a good day’s work.
@Brian James Moss: Spot on Brian.
Really don’t like this idea of not putting up the offside flag straight away when someone is clearly offside, the referee can let play continue if they like but the linesman should not choose to do It a later stage of play, it happend twice last night and just made the linesman look unsure of themselves, apparently it’s a UEFA backed idea.
@Devilsavocado: *happened
@Devilsavocado: The idea being a solid one. If the linesperson has made a mistake what use is VAR if the attacking team don’t get their shot in? If a goal happens they can give it or disallow with VAR but if the play is called dead beforehand they can’t review it.
@Devilsavocado: yeah UEFA backed but I think the Prem have a stricter rule on not letting play continue… sure let’s see how it goes.
@Dermot Dooley: That’s why he said “clearly offside”.
I have to say they had a great game..
I firmly believe they controlled it well not taking any lip from players and stood by every decision.. no ref can be 100% right but they were very close..
I also thought the players had a very healthy respect for them too..
Great to see the irish lady too. Well done UEFA
It’s a bloody disgrace, women referees! It’s another example of political correctness gone mad! And health and safety gone mad too. What’s the world coming to. Bloody snowflakes. Next they’ll be letting women drive and then it’s a slippery slope to who knows what it’s a disgrace the whole thing is a total disgrace
”Don’t hate us cos you ain’t us”
- Aristotle
Who ever was overseeing the cameras for VAR, clearly missed adrian being off his line for Abrahams shot. Since they brought in 1 foot on the line this season, thought it would be focused on, especially as the game to penalties.
Had Liverpool lost would we be having a different discussion and what would Herr Klopp be saying?
Chelsea penalty, the Liverpool keeper for Tammy’s penalty.
2 bad decisions
I suppose there will be women solicitors next bahahahahahahaha
One noticeable positive from last night’s game was the absence of players going down with fake injuries.
It helped the game to flow, and meant injury time was minimum.
As to the keeper’s feet off the line, if the shot had missed it would have been taken again.
Now, if she could only do the All Ireland
Kitchen sink 12ft of chain and a good padlock