On the first Sunday of December in 1997, Dunboyne and Summerhill drew 0-07 apiece in the Meath U-21 FC Final. Typically putrid winter dross wherein the only bit of excitement was yours truly taking exception to Mattie Kerrigan taking exception to one of our lads after their full back Barry Fagan had earned them the most unlikely of reprieves with a Hail Mary shot identical to the one from which Colm Coyle rescued Meath in the previous year’s All Ireland Final.
Little did either of us know the friendship that would blossom between us over the years which followed. Which was particularly cemented by a night washed in copious porter and whiskey with our dear departed mutual friend the late Brendan Cummins. When the two amigos took the almost obligatory stop at Brady’s of Dunboyne, having been ‘working’ for LMFM Sport in Croker.
It was on the occasion of what I have referred to ever since as Conor Gillespie Day. When the man affectionately known to many as Fez almost singlehandedly beat Kildare. A performance which now stands as a heart breaking reminder of what the big man’s career might have been had it not been destroyed by injury.
Anyway, between the drawn match and the replay, our manager at the time, Andy McEntee felt we needed something extra, so he called up 15-year-old Ger Robinson who was home on leave from Middlesbrough and actually started the youngster at wing forward.
Which, unsurprisingly, went down like a led baloon with the traditionilists who, with some validity, pleaded the case for the lads who had trained and played throughout the campaign up to that point.
However, my belief always has been and always will be that, in a county final, or the showpiece of any sporting event for that matter, victory is all that matters. Granted, the knockers had a field day when we lost the replay by three points.
But starting Ger definitely increased our prospects of getting the job done. In fact, for what it’s worth, after the Dunboyne Ladies had won the 2021 Meath SFC Final in the curtain raiser to the men’s equivalent, if it were permissable, I would have had absolutely no problem bringing on Emma Duggan and/or Vikki Wall in the men’s final against Wolfe Tones and have absolutely no doubt one or both would have made the difference between winning and losing. But sure goody two shoes Dunboyne would never have been imaginative enough to even think about doing such a thing.
That said, if I supported either the Mayo footballers or Arsenal, I would be hoping Andy Moran or Mikel Arteta don’t make the same mistake with Kobe McDonald and Max Dowman respectively.
Act on what you are seeing – in other words play them early and often before others cop your jewels and nab them.
No doubt, those of a whiter shade of pale are probably saying ‘Oh well Kobe’s signed a contract there’s nothing can be done’. Balls to that. Unless he has received a down payment, those contracts probably aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
Mayo fans are to be commended for demonstrating their disapproval of the Crossmolina lad being poached by the foreign vulchers with their banner at the green and red’s home matches which simply read “Hands off our Kobe, rear your own”!
You imagine if there are people with a bit of financial clout where Irish eyes like beacons shine, something could be concocted to dissuade the prodigious youngster from heading for the arse end of the world.
In another sporting discipline, while financials certainly don’t come into play where Max Dowman is concerned, it is not difficult to imagine other clubs, perhaps even from elsewhere in Europe, eyeing up the mercurial teenager. Especially if there’s a sense that he’s not first choice at the Emirates Stadium.
He should be, though. Never more so than on Sunday next in a game which is likely to define the future and legacy of a lot of these Arsenal players and their affable but jittery manager. Yes I do believe he’s well up to it and what’s more he could be exactly the curve ball required to make that big donkey Haaland stay humble for a while.
No matter what some – even Arsenal fans – might think of him in some ways, maybe Arteta’s greatest managerial achievement up to press has been keeping his side as competitive as has been the case to such a high level as has been the case without a recognised forward for such an elongated period. Yes, Victor Gyokeres has grown in influence with every appearance he has made and more than justified the hype which accompanied his acquisition but gut feeling is his manager is still not totally convinced.
Thus, as with when Meath play Dublin in Gaelic football, the Spaniard will need to pull a rabbit from a hat in order to get one over the auld enemy. Max Dowman can be that Energizer Bunny. Nico O’Reilly is a fine footballer and a very exciting prospect for the longer term but his aptitude for the rudiments of his day job, defending, are still questionable.
Arteta needs to hone in on that fact with Dowman while he still can.
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