WHEN Neil Deasy saw Tom Whooley in action close up for the first time, he remembers thinking the young Clonakilty forward was a finisher.

Give Whooley a chance, he’ll make it count.

‘He just loves scoring,’ says Deasy, who is involved in underage coaching at Clonakilty GAA Club.

‘Our job is to try and develop players. For some, maybe it’s getting them to work on the defensive side of their game or whatever is needed, but with Tom it was about embracing what he was – and that’s a finisher.

‘He loves scoring, but not at the expense of the team.

‘I remember thinking he was powerful and quick, had a bit of a dash about him and always looked to take his man on – similar to what we see now.

‘He was a finisher.’

Deasy first started coaching Whooley at U15 level, when the Clon teen was still U14.

By then, there was already chatter about him, both in GAA and soccer worlds.

In the 2023 Kennedy Cup soccer tournament, Whooley finished the  second-highest scorer with six goals in six games, as the West Cork Academy achieved a best-ever third-place finish.

Not long afterwards, he represented the Republic of Ireland international schoolboys team at the 2023 Celtic Cup in Scotland, and scored his first international goal.

Tom Whooley played for the Republic of Ireland international schoolboys' team in the 2023 Celtic Cup.

Three years later, Whooley is grabbing the headlines as Cork’s top scoring forward in the county’s run to the All-Ireland minor football final against Tyrone this Sunday in Newbridge.

The Clonakilty Community College student has emerged as Cork's biggest scoring threat, hitting 2-12 from play. He announced himself with 1-5 against Clare and has continued to torment defences.

Whooley scored 0-4 in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Meath, and then 1-2 in the semi-final against Derry. But these figures don’t surprise Neil Deasy.

‘Being involved with the Cork minors last year has helped him develop into an even better player this year,’ Deasy says.

‘We saw the potential in him, we know what he is capable of and he is starting to show that now.

‘When he gets his chance to take a fella on, he will. If he sees a team-mate in a better position, he’ll pass. There’s maturity there too.’

Cork minor manager Keith Ricken agrees.

‘Tom is a top-class young fella and a great leader,’ Ricken said after Cork’s victory over Derry where Whooley caught the eye with 1-2.

‘It’s not just that he can do that but more importantly, he was winning balls when some weren’t meant to be won. He got out in front, was pushed off it, was knocked over, probably fouled a few times, yet he kept at it.

‘If you were rewarding effort then that goal was a reward.

‘When he got the goal, he didn’t sit back on his laurels. That’s Tom. He’ll work for the team. Very committed guy but very team-orientated. A good lad.’

There’s a cut-and-thrust to Whooley when he has the ball. He’s a danger. There have been plenty of signs that this was coming. Take the Rebel Óg U16 Premier 2 FC final in September 2024 when he scored 1-4 as Clon U16s beat St Nick’s to complete the county double, having won the league title two weeks previously.

‘Clon full forward Tom Whooley was a class apart, kicking 1-4, and often taking two and even three players to mark him,’ Star reporter Tom Lyons wrote at the time.

The latest football talent to come off the Clon conveyor belt – a word, too, for Clon’s Fionn O’Donovan who is also involved with the Cork minors – has built his success on a platform of hard work and passion for the game.

‘Tom absolutely loves football – that shines through in the way he plays,’ Deasy adds.

‘Practice comes easy to him because he loves being at the pitch with a bag of balls. You can be very good at the game but if you love it too, that shines through in the way that you play

‘His enthusiasm for the game is off the charts.

‘With all the young lads we want them to enjoy the experience and love the game. You’re hoping then that the conveyor belt keeps rolling as a consequence. With Tom, there is tradition there at home, with Darragh and Jane – they are the people who have fostered that love of football.’

His Cork minor adventure is only another step in the story, but, like every step before it, he's making his mark. That's what finishers do. That's why we remember their names.