*** INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP *** Put it like this, when I left Celtic park yesterday, I forgot myself and headed straight into the traffic coming from the Black Preceptory. Talk about a mad scramble to get to the McDonald’s Drive thru first. There’s a clue there folks! I was heading straight for a celebratory meal and 15,000 members of the Royal Black Institution weren’t going to dampen my spirits, nor were they going to beat me to the Burgers! Anyway, I approached the Drive thru speaker thingamabob “We won easy!” I roared at the machine. “I think I’ll have a large Big Mac Meal. And why not? I’ll take six nuggets too! Oh, and I’ll have a banana milkshake and surprise me with the dips for the nuggets!” Celebrate in style! It’s not every day your club makes a championship Semi-Final. So, three minutes later, as I munched my way through the fine fare from the world’s largest and probably fastest fast food restaurant, I began to ponder my Match Report. *** THE SCORE *** The big features were a blistering Claudy start, a tight arsed Claudy defence that coughed up a single point in the first half, two Marty Donaghy goals (the second of which was a screamer), great use of the wide open space in Celtic Park, and, the perfect response when Greenlough threatened to drag themselves back at the start of the second half. Half Time: Claudy 1 04 Greenlough 0 01 Full Time: Claudy 2 10 Greenlough 0 12 *** CLAUDY MAN OF THE MATCH AWARD *** As a tried in vain the get my milkshake up through the straw, I began to think about the Man of the Match Award. It’s almost unfair to single out players. I’m going to mention a few, but I am going to start by saying that this was probably the best Claudy performance that I’ve seen in the time that I’ve lived here, which is eight years and three months. It was a great TEAM performance and as I got carried away in the moment I looked around Celtic Park and thought of the other great games I had seen there, most notably the Down v Derry epic of May 1994 and the Down v Derry championship clash of July 2013, both of which Down won. So, if your name isn’t here, it’s only because I haven’t got room. Every player deserves a mention for something. Shout outs to: Marty Burke – he wasn’t playing and I am pretty sure he never kicked a ball, but boy did he move up, down and around the sidelines. I have never seen the laid back Marty Burke so animated! #passiononthesideline Aaron Donaghy – solid, but stood out for shipping one of the biggest crunching two man squeezes of the day. I was sitting behind his mum and dad and I thought I might have to try and restrain Claire and reach for the defibrillators for Seamus! But Aaron just ran on through as if he hadn’t noticed! Eoin McGahon – his wild eyed gesturing after the final whistle could have made the news. Certainly it must have sent a chill down the spine of a Greenlough player or two. He looked like a man who wanted to return some favours……… with a fair amount of interest. Aaron Kerrigan – was first out every time and every ball in to him seemed to stick to his chest. Turned on a sixpence and was a constant threat. Blaine Carlin – provided the guile and cunning when it was really really needed towards the end. Is in great shape and worked hard from one end to the other. Proved he was willing to take one for the team, didn’t get caught though! Conor Johnston, Cory Armstrong and Christy Wood, Barry Carton and Shea Kerrigan – All as tight as you like in defence. All shipped more than their fair share of some tough and at times desperate tackling but kept their discipline, which was a singular feature throughout and really did make a difference. Two years ago we were conceding 8 , 9, 10 points in every game from cheap lazy frees. Paddy Hargan – starting to find his old form again. Solid. Odhran McCloskey – He’s my nephew and he always sports a nice neat short back and sides for the big games. Now, if that wasn’t enough, he is beginning to blend in well with Marty Donaghy and Aaron Kerrigan. Finds space as if he has a crystal ball and has a nice left foot, Size 9, I think, by the look of it. Marty Donaghy – danger man. Two majors, the second of which was a real screamer. Always a threat and works really hard. Lee O’Kane – what is really unfair on Lee is that on any other day, he would be getting my nod. He was brilliant today and gave his man absolutely no change. His tackling was executed to perfection and this was by far his best ever game in the blue shirt. He was a very close contender for my accolade! My award however goes to none other than Shane McGahon – three words really sum up his contribution – SHANE STOOD TALL! He pushed through and contested every ball into the midfield. He shrugged off challenges, and he actually looked like a man who was really enjoying his football. And he varied his play perfectly. And to confound the Greenlough midfield he applied just the right balance between high fielding and decisively and accurately breaking it down. His long ball in to the full forwards and space were always accurate too. Take a bow Shane and everyone else but remember there is a Semi-Final up next. *** REF WATCH *** From where I sat, the officials had a great game. Nothing at all to complain about. Except that is,,,,,, unless your name is Tom O’Kane! Here’s a conundrum that I was pondering yesterday. How can a man actually start frothing at the mouth and go bright red, swearing and roaring at a referee because we don’t get the free even when it’s clearly us that committed the foul? Talking of Tom’s red faced roaring I was reminded of the 1999 Ulster Final between Down and Armagh in Clones. For two reasons, both of which Tom reminded me off yesterday: Firstly, I remember during that match, my brother Barry explaining the phenomenon he used to call “Clones Head”. That’s where 36,000 people get well-oiled in the Clones pubs before the match and then go up to the pitch to stand roasting the arses of themselves in the hot July sun. Tom doesn’t actually need the sun, he can go beetroot from the neck up in a snow storm. All he needs is some poor referee. Secondly, it was during that very same Ulster Final, as Armagh began to pull away beyond doubt, that my brother turned to me and said, “Clones! Armagh winning by 11 points! The only place in Ireland where you’ll see 10,000 village idiots gathered in one place!” Tom O’Kane………… *** THE BAKER’S DOZEN *** I actually did manage to grab Liam ‘the Baker’ Bradley for a quick word after the match….. Yesterday we had an unusual exchange to say the least. Me: “So Li………..” Liam ‘the Baker’ Bradley: “Right, right hi sur! Look’it, look’it, look see! Good win for the lads. Sure what did I say last year. Didn’t ah tell ya!” Me: “Eh? Eh Li………..” Liam ‘the Baker’ Bradley: “Hi sur! Look’it, look’it, look see! It was the scrambled eggs and toast was the key!” Me: “WTF, Li………..” Liam ‘the Baker’ Bradley: “Right, right hi sur! It was definitely the scrambled eggs! Veronica Armstrong played a blinder with the eggs. I got the eggs and a few loaves of bread up in the village and Veronica worked her magic!” Me: “Emmett, Charlie, Thomas, Seamus, hold on there lads, I’m coming with youse! Me (under my breath) “Shhhhhhh, pretend you’re talking to me there Thomas. The Baker has lost it. He’s babbling on about scrambled eggs. Do you think I should call Carmel to come and lift him?” Liam ‘the Baker’ Bradley: “Look’it, aye hey, it was the eggs” *** NEXT UP *** The Intermediate Championship Semi-Finals Claudy v Castledawson Craigbane v Slaughtmanus / Ballerin And I’m away to buy a walking machine. These burgers are going to kill me!
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 08:31:19 +0000
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