A few words on last week’s Coolrite Under 19 FC Final, written by Billy Dillon who was manager when we last won the Joey McKeown Cup in 1992.
I’m still buzzing after that brilliant win by the under 19 squad on Saturday. The nerves started early in the week but thankfully I met Declan Byrne on the preceding Wednesday at a funeral and he assured me that we were going to do it. ‘These boys know how to win’ he proclaimed.
Storm Darragh did not help in the build up. It couldn’t be called off and make my suffering last even longer. Or could it? When the Division 2 final was cancelled things looked bad. Then I heard from Johnny Geoghegan that the roads to Walterstown were blocked and the pitch there unplayable. Oh sugar.
Shortly afterwards I heard the dreaded news – the game will be played but in Stamullen. What !!!
As Tommy Finnegan would say ‘I will tell you one thing’. Johnny Sullivan the former great mentor of St Pats would not have agreed to play it in Seneschalstown. We had many a battle with Johnny RIP over the years. Mostly verbal but not exclusively so. Tommy Mc would have a tale or two to tell in that regard.Championship Final neutral venue would have been Johnny’s cry.
When I arrived at the excellent facilities I was reluctant to leave the car. It wasn’t until Teresa shouted that the game was on that I jumped out. Maybe my memory is fading but I can’t recall ever playing or watching a game in such horrible and Baltic conditions. In fairness to both sides it should have been put back.
I got myself into a good position and scanned the field to see the line up. Two new faces starting compared to the last day against the Cilles. Thankfully Liam Dillon was back and Colin Scanlon started too after making a huge impact off the bench last time out. The versatile Sam Kirwan switched to an attacking role and Arron Carey retained the pivotal centre back position. Darren and Seimí teamed up in the middle again and Cian Hosie was in at full. That transpired to be a crucial move. The rest were as you were the last day. In the absence of our talisman Cian Commons this I thought is as good as it gets. I couldn’t have picked a better team myself!!
It’s always a good sign of a management team. Knowing your best 15 and putting them in their best positions is a great start.
Even though I missed the throw in I saw on the video that Danny got the referee to toss the coin a second time as it seemed the first toss did not give him the result he wanted. Early display of leadership skills from Captain Danny.
Any concern I had about Liam’s fitness were soon dispersed when he collected the ball early on and burst past two of the Pats lads at pace. He persisted in going forward and was rewarded when he got a good shot off to record the first score of the game even though we were playing into a gale. That settled me and hopefully Liam as well. The Furze lads were retaining the ball excellently and seemed very well coached in that regard. Seimí and Darren were showing great leadership skills by winning numerous possessions, getting a hand in to dispossess opponents in tackles and striding forward at every opportunity.
At the back Danny was doing great work in containing their danger man Jamie Murphy. He stuck to his task diligently and never left his side. Jack McDonnell was continuing his recent great form and Oran Lawlor was confident and assured – almost in the Liam Harnan mould ‘thou shall not pass’ or ‘Don’t even try’. Not everyone on the team was milking hundreds of cows at 5 am on the morning of the big match. Oran was.
Luke Healy was kept busy and got his kick outs away with great accuracy for the most part.His performance was truly outstanding given the horrendous gale he was facing. The half back line were on fire and were aided to great effect by Colin Scanlon. Charles McCarthy proved to be a superb outlet for the kick outs which helped greatly in that much of the game was played in the Pats half of the field away from the danger area.
The forwards too were playing their part both defensively and offensively. I saw Eamon Finnegan going down courageously to win a free on at at least two occasions. On one of these the ref played advantage and Cian Hosie was subsequently dragged down in front of goals. The referee went back for the original foul! Eamon did work very hard and was rewarded with a great point from play later on.
In the 20th minute a tremendous move saw Cian Hosie gain possession near the end line. He left his opponents for dead and laid it off to Robbie Finnegan who offloaded back to him beautifully. His bullet of a shot unluckily hit the crossbar and into the hands of a Pats defender. A goal would have been nice.
The Pats had numerous bad wides but luckily for them they were still ahead by a point at the break. A Pats supporter beside me was bemoaning the single point lead. ‘The wind will never win a game for you’ I told him even though I was hoping it would.
The second half went by in a whizz. I set my stop watch at half time and the next time I looked it showed over 33 minutes played. It was teak tough second half with numerous turnovers on both sides. The Pats played better into the gale but the Furze defence stood firm with some vital assistance from Darren, Seimí, Colin and Charlie Finnegan. Luke Healy in goals was called into action a few times and when they struck for a major it was a body blow for our lads. Luke was fouled twice in his box and should have got a free in the build up.
The gloves were off now and with Robbie off injured I was a worried man. The Pats celebrated as if they had it won. Hold on I thought it’s not over yet.
From the resultant kick out Sean Davis did brilliant to get a pass away to Charles McCarthy right in front me. He sent a beautifully weighted long delivery in the direction of Cian Hosie who used his speed to gain possession and cut inside. I turned away after he took his shot as I thought it was gone badly wide. Phrases like ‘Oh ye of little faith’ or ‘Doubting Thomas’ come to mind. It was the perfect response.
With minutes remaining Jamie Murphy gained possession and was bearing down on goals six or seven yards out. He unleashed a pile driver but like a flash Arron Carey put in an unbelievable block and the ball was cleared to safety. This was a massive moment in the game.
Then it was now all down to the last play. Danny won possession and gave it to Jamie Norris on his own 45. What’s he doing back there! But then he sent a tremendous long delivery in Cain Hosie’s direction almost to the end line. With two defenders on his back Cian somehow managed to cut inside causing one of them to tug hard on his jersey. The ref raised his hand to signal advantage. Like he did earlier Jamie Norris stroked the ball, like a professional golfer with a pitching wedge in his hand, beautifully between the uprights. Game over.
It was hard won. Scores were hard to come by, even with the wind. Cian had drawn the game level with a great point from play after the restart. Two points from frees by the same player and two from Jamie Norris gave us a cushion. One from the latter was 50 meters out.
It would be unfair to single out a man of the match. It was a day when everyone in the group got first class honours. Even though it appears minor the positioning of Cian Hosie at full forward was crucial. It allowed the Furze to keep their greatest scoring threat close to goal and gave Jamie Norris and Eamonn Finnegan the freedom to roam and create space for the speedster.
The management team of four former greats Bryan and Damien Sheridan, Davy Lyons and the gentle giant Rob Ruddy (Teresa’s nephew btw) played their part. The team were well coached, well motivated and well positioned. Even if they hadn’t done brilliantly I don’t I would have started a row with them given their stature!!
But in truth this team has been in the making for a long time. The work done by Declan Byrne, Stan O’Brien, the Macs, Steven Dillon, Mark Scanlon, Alan Finnegan, John McCarthy, Ian Carey, Colin Clarke , Tommy Walsh , Nigel McCoy and many others in bringing these players on over the last 12 years cannot be forgotten.
On a day that the playwrite John B Keane would say ‘was fit for nothing else’ (and he wasn’t talking about football) it was great to see such support for the team in Stamullen. Supporters and players past and present including our County man Cathal Hickey , boys and girls in different age groups all braved the elements to witness a historic day.
On a personal level it was amazing to see four ‘Dillons’ in the line up and each did remarkably well to bring the cup home.
Shane Mulvanny has kept us entertained with his excellent match reports all year. He his latest report he correctly pointed out the connections with the ‘92 team. Indeed the trail goes back to ‘72 and beyond when the grandfathers of five of this years players lined out for the Seneschalstown three in a row (‘70,’71 and ‘72) winning under 21 teams . Would there be any chance of bringing back the under 21 championship and quickly?
Buíochas le Dia. Slán.
