He first came to prominence on the club’s senior team in the late 1980s, however, Ballycran were going through a hugely unsuccessful period at the time, after losing five county finals in-a-row.
After more than a decade out of the limelight Ballycran bounced back in 2007, with Savage adding a fourth county winners’ medal to his collection.
[3] Two years later in 1997 Down regained the Ulster title, with Savage adding a third provincial winners’ medal to his collection.
[3] The next few years proved to an unhappy time for Down's hurling team as Antrim and Derry reclaimed their status as the standard-bearers in the provincial championship.
In 2005 a restructuring of the championship saw Down being entered in the Christy Ring Cup, effectively a competition for the ‘second-tier’ hurling teams.
He has enjoyed little success with his province as Ulster have failed to even qualify for the Railway Cup final in recent years.
[5] Savage has also represented his country in the annual Composite rules shinty-hurling competition between Ireland and Scotland.