Experience of the journey can make destination an afterthought

WOLFE TONES…1-19

DONAGHMORE/ASHBOURNE…0-12

At the outset here, please forgive the forthcoming preamble to the main meat in the sandwich. It will make the main filling all the more delectable when arrived at. Now read on…

Dunboyne’s qualification for the Meath SFC Final of 1998 could not have come at a better time for me. If you can’t see or hear something it’s not happening, right? So says the addled mind. Away from sporting matters, I was in the midst of going through an absolutely horrific ordeal. So the most perfect distraction of all couldn’t have been better timed.

What made things potentially tricky was that it was a completely new experience for nearly our entire club. As it was for our opponents, Oldcastle. The word in italics would prove to be crucially important though. In manager Gerry Cooney and players Kieran Carolan and Andy McEntee (both with Nobber) and Liam Duggan (Portlaoise) we had a smattering of people who had travelled the road before.

I will be forever grateful to Gerry, and his selectors Roger Watters and the late, great and terribly missed Brian Reilly, for allowing me to be as close to the setup as was the case. My circumstances were different then, definitely better, aforementioned situation notwithstanding, and it meant I attended every match, training session, fitness test – you name it I was there.

As you you might imagine, the couple of weeks leading into the county final were manic. But it’s funny the things that come back to you at different times. Such as the ‘Mission Statement’ Gerry had prepared for the players. Basically, a means by which they could blank out all the attendant outside ‘noise’. Among the suggestions were:

1. No Mascots
2. No team bus
3. No suits or other club apparel before the match.
4. Socks to be pulled up for the pre match parade.

Now, there is no suggestion that Donaghmore/Ashbourne had any intention of doing any of the above, but, given the prevailing circumstances – not only the fact that the ‘Moores went in search of their first Meath SFC victory since 1942 – but also the fact the match was to be played in their own place.

They wouldn’t be human if it didn’t have some bit of an effect on them. I don’t believe it actually made enough of a difference to cost Timmy O’Regan’s team.

What may, though, have been a factor was that, with the exception of the two Andy’s – Colgan and Tormey – and Sean Curran and Menton, county final day was a brand new experience for the underdogs.

If you wanted to talk about deciding factors, for me, they would have been the contributions of Oisin Martin and Caolan Ward and Thomas O’Reilly and Saran O’Fionnagain.

If there was one thing the green and white will possibly have regrets over it would undoubtedly be their own profligacy in front of goal. Particularly in the first half when the had the advantage of whatever aid was to be had from the swirling wind that continually resides in Killegland.

That said, with Oisin Martin running roughshod over the opposing defence when he, Caolan Ward, Thomas O’Reilly and O’Fionnagain catapulted Shane McCoy’s crew into a 0-08 to 0-03. However, as good as that was, when the outstanding Martin took off on a run commensurate to that by Owen Mulligan of Tyrone against Dublin back in the day with the only difference being that the man they call Timber offloaded before shooting so it was Tom Gavigan who (just about) slid the ball under Andy Colgan.

At that stage, trailing by 0-03 to 1-08 five minutes out from half time you could nearly feel the air bursting out of the local balloons. Everywhere bar on the pitch it seemed. Because, slowly but surely they began working their way back into the match with scores from Bryan Menton, Kevin Fenton, Andy Colgan, Andy Tormey and Darragh McGovern.

Which actually meant they only trailed by three at the break. When McGovern and Sean Penny traded scores at the start of the second half there was no indication of the manner in which the representatives of Gaelteacht Na Mi were about to blitz their way to a third Keegan Cup.

Yet that is exactly what transpired as O’Fionnagain surely played himself to the verge of a county recall with an inspired display of shooting.

The same can absolutely be said of O’Reilly and you’d just hope that his age wouldn’t go against him. Though in fairness to Robbie Brennan, he has shown with the likes of Seamus Lavin and Donal Keogan and Menton that is not deterred by players having a bit of age in them if they still have something to offer.

Of other Tones lads, Timber simply has to get more game time and Caolan Ward has surely done enough to earn a shot at the highest level.

Of the vanquished forces, you’d have thought that qualification for a county final would have merited a few lads being offered a go at county level at the very least. Ask me to pinpoint possibles and I would be looking at the like of Evan Quinn and the McGovern twins and Fenton and Thornton.

WOLFE TONES – C. O’Gallachoír; Andrew Crawford, S. Glynn, C. Sheppard; O. Martin (0-3), R. Gallagher, S. Penny (0-1); A. O’Neill, E. Donegan; C. Ward (0-6), T. O’Reilly (0-3), S. O’Fionnagain (0-4); T. Gavigan (1-0), F. Ward, K. Moran (0-2).

SUBS – C. O’Neill for F. Ward, Adrian Crawford for Penny, Padraig Diamond for Andrew Crawford, S. Sheppard for Moran.

DONAGHMORE ASHBOURNE – A. Colgan (0-3, 1×45); S. Curran, S. Melia, E. Quinn; S. Tyrrell, C. Carton, K. Cully; B. Menton (0-1), J. Brown; K. Fenton (0-1), A. Tormey (0-2), T. McGovern; D. McGovern (0-2), S. Carton (0-1), Z. Thornton (0-2).

SUBS – E. Kelly for Thornton, C. Hegarty for Cully, M. Deegan for Fenton, M. O’Sullivan for S. Carton.

Referee – David Coldrick (Blackhall Gaels)