All’s fair in love and war, right? When emotions had partially returned to equilibrium in the wake of Dunboyne’s bitterly disappointingly tame exit from contention for the Meath SFC, or as close to such so as not to make any difference, Summerhill manager Dave Clare and I embraced as happens more regularly than anybody on either side would know. Neither of us had to say anything. He knew what I was feeling and I him. Some friendships run deeper than any occurrences on a football field.
The situation needed an ice breaker though, and, eventually, it was the former Dunboyne half forward and St Mary’s College prop who chirped in “Was that German you were using in the last few minutes?” Tension duly melted. And, at my own expense, I will confess that there was German or Arabic or whatever you’re having yourself emanating from these airwaves down the stretch.
Did a few questionable calls go against us? In my view, yes, but absolutely no more and in fact probably quite a few less than fell in our favour. Keith Sheerin is, in my opinion, one of the finest referees in the county – though I may not have expressed as such in the closing stages. The fact is it was never going to be an easy one to referee with more accumulated tension than an adulterer facing a polygraph. For a multiplicity of a reason.
Ultimately, though, a realistic appraisal of the shortcomings of the eventually vanquished would conclude that they’d need a mirror to diagnose the problem and a farrier to remedy it.
Regrettably, or perhaps luckily, at the time of typing the exact number of occasions on which Dunboyne shooting boots could’ve done with being straighter is not known but, suffice to say, it was more than enough to have taken care of business without any fuss. That’s without mention of all the other self inflicted catastrophes which were their undoing.
So now, with, in all probability, the winter just having gotten considerably longer, the battleplan for dealing with that eventuality will have to be redrawn. Slightly in some cases.
For example, while Dunboyne’s men’s first team may be up the stinky creek without a propulsion instrument, the club’s other adult football teams are performing well and in contention for knockout football.
Moreover, both adult hurling teams are also in good fettle, while the lady footballers have begun their quest for a seventh successive SFC Final appearance with a comprehensive victory over Oldcastle.
However, all of that didn’t even register in the immediate aftermath of Keith Sheerin’s full time whistle. Taking a turn of the wheels back and analysing from a bit of a remove, the reality of the situation is as laid out above.
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Anyway, owing to the kindness of my extremely patient partner Susan, one morsel of my past which has been rescued in recent times has been the ability to go to a few matches in a neutral capacity. Such as the meeting of Trim and Rathkenny and, prior to our meeting with Summerhill, the enthralling encounter featuring Ratoath and Seneschalstown.
Apart from the quality of fare on show, there were a few other noteworthy points from the meeting of the two lots of blue and gold. The returns of both Cian Commons and Jack Flynn from serious injuries.
The former of the pair putting on an exhibition of long range point taking and the latter being the spark which ignited Paul Galvin’s charges in their ultimately successful retrieval mission. The stalemate meaning that both sides have a win and a draw from their two outings to date. Thus both are still well in the mix for Keegan Cup honours.
In terms of the bigger picture, though, whilst pondering what the future might hold for county football teams, there’s no doubt the return to fitness of the two lads would certainly be a boon to them.
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Finally, it was also great to meet up with former Meath Co Committee Treasurer Colm Gannon and his wife Ann who were both flattering in their commendation of the crusade yours truly has undertaken in the pursuit of better disabled viewing facilities in Croke Park in particular.
That said, they were equally as crestfallen and utterly frustrated as am I by the complete lack of response from the GAA President or his representatives.
Mind you, when you see his interfering with a club’s coach appointments, blacklisting an individual to the detriment of the notion of innocent until proven guilty and stating that concerts in Croke Park HAD to be accommodated, you wonder where his priorities are. Sometimes it’s hard not to look back in anger!
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