Must-see TV as stars finally make it to the screen
The last stand as the Faughs keeper winds up in injury time
O'D plays a little thinking man's hurling as he returns a pass to O'Shea, and Maharaj lofts in the sideline for our 2nd goal
Tymon Park was the venue on Sunday as Realt Dearg stepped into the brave new world of live streaming. The star’s TV debut (O’Ds appearance on Take Me Out notwithstanding) came against the locals from Faughs GAA, in a much-anticipated Junior A quarter final. So anticipated in fact, that by throw-in there was already an audience of 300 on YouTube and Cian O’Brien’s plot to overthrow the ruler of ****** was put on hold. (Location censored owing to concerns for Cian’s safety)
There was a great outpouring of sympathy for the novice commentator early in the game. Any ideas he may have had about easing himself into his new role with a few nice easy names fell by the wayside as Realt Dearg lined up their opening 65. The Maharaj clan back in Kilkenny may have been surprised to hear that former Tipp centre back Conor O’Mahoney had apparently taken over the placed ball duties, before the production team went with the much safer “No.15” for the rest of the game.
Both teams played some nice stuff in the lead up to the first water break, but the difficult conditions kept the scores down. Some lung-busting tracking and tackling by Brendan Walsh and the newly elected handsomest man in the club Tom Quille put paid to a few Faughs goal chances as the locals carried the ball into the breeze well. As the first quarter wore on, the roving Eoin O’Shea and former handsomest man in the club Matt Lynch began to take control of the middle sector for RD, leading to heavy praise on commentary.
Post water-break the Matt love-in was briefly interrupted as he set up a super long range point for Mike O’ Connor and O’Shea's all action performance took him into Maharaj’s territory and he edged us in front. It wasn’t all one way traffic as the man known simply as ‘Prendy’ got on the world of ball, dropping deep, but the RD defence held firm, especially after 21 minutes when the ball definitely didn’t cross the line before Kev Ryan got back to make a ‘Goal line’ clearance.
John Tarpey showed his ball winning ability moments later and laid off to Eoin ‘The Other Midfielder’ O’ Shea who set up a score for Niall O’ Keeffe, who I can confirm is ‘a big, big man’. A nice flick from Tarps set up O'Shea for a super score from the sideline despite the best efforts of Benji, who surely hasn’t met a player of the Kilkenny man’s calibre before.
The first killer blow came in first half injury time as No.15 rounded his man and squared for the in-form O’Keeffe to finish, and the same pair linked up again as the mystery corner forward lofted in a sweet sideline and the Galway man managed to combine with Hurney, Rory and O’Shea to cause enough havoc to create an opportunity which Eoin finally finished to the net. The 60-second burst made the half-time score 2-6 to 0-6 and led to at least 2 laptops on Dublin’s southside being smashed in celebration.
Benji and friends (Seriously there was 3 of them at times) continued to struggle with O’Shea into the second half but the first serious blow of the game came as Matt pulled up injured early, much to the dismay of the smitten commentator. Little did Faughs expect the secret weapon we had in reserve, as Podge made his glorious entrance to take up a slightly more ‘Meat and 2 veg’ role than the Kerry man. Podge wasn’t long on the pitch when Faughs got a goal, but I’m sure the two aren’t related.
Gary Hurney kept the scoreboard ticking over, Faughs defender Tom McVeigh not the first corner back to be called naïve in comparison to the veteran. Speaking of veterans, Colm Gahan made his 2020 A team debut after 40 minutes, and the referee flashed his red card moments later. Amazingly, these 2 events weren’t related either. This reporter will join the commentator in playing the Arsene Wenger “I didn’t see it” card, knowing that Podge is so irritating on the pitch, any action against him could be considered reasonable.
Podge and Gahan combined well to set up Hurney for the third goal shortly afterward, and it looked like plain sailing for the visitors. But quarter finals aren’t known for being handy and Faughs hauled themselves back level in the final quarter. Some on-the-edge play from club chairman/full back/all-round good guy Ciaran Gough kept RD from falling behind, before 2 super turnovers from O’Shea, now playing deep, helped to set up a chance for Podge. Receiving a perfectly weighted pass form Gahan, Podge tactically hit his shot so far wide the ref thought it must have got a touch, and the 65 edged us back in front. The ever-reliable Bryan Rossiter kept his cool when a shot from the dangerous Prendy dropped short and restored calm to the RD men as we entered injury time.
The super athletic Shola was denied by questionable means when taking on Gough and all of Brendan’s irritating fitness work in Drimnagh began to pay off as super defensive work rate led to 3 wides by Faughs in injury time. When Maharaj/Mahoney found himself in acres of space in front of goal with 34 minutes gone, he took the wise option in extending the lead to two. The point proved crucial as Faughs manufactured a 21-yard free, and the famous Eddie Hogan made his way up from his goals to do his best Anthony Nash impression. Much to everyone’s relief, a combination of Rossi, Hurney and Colm Walsh got behind the ball, and Faughs’ last real chance was gone. Fittingly, Podge was the last to touch the ball, and fittingly, he booted it awkwardly towards the sideline before collapsing to his knees yet again as the final whistle went. Well done to both teams on a great game and a serious battle!
Thanks to Faughs’ Conor and Larry for the super production, thanks to Eoin O’Shea for his dominant performance, and thanks to the hurling Gods for getting us over the line. Please join Cathal Hester and special guest Liam Lanigan for coverage of the semi final against Lucan on September 6th!
There was a great outpouring of sympathy for the novice commentator early in the game. Any ideas he may have had about easing himself into his new role with a few nice easy names fell by the wayside as Realt Dearg lined up their opening 65. The Maharaj clan back in Kilkenny may have been surprised to hear that former Tipp centre back Conor O’Mahoney had apparently taken over the placed ball duties, before the production team went with the much safer “No.15” for the rest of the game.
Both teams played some nice stuff in the lead up to the first water break, but the difficult conditions kept the scores down. Some lung-busting tracking and tackling by Brendan Walsh and the newly elected handsomest man in the club Tom Quille put paid to a few Faughs goal chances as the locals carried the ball into the breeze well. As the first quarter wore on, the roving Eoin O’Shea and former handsomest man in the club Matt Lynch began to take control of the middle sector for RD, leading to heavy praise on commentary.
Post water-break the Matt love-in was briefly interrupted as he set up a super long range point for Mike O’ Connor and O’Shea's all action performance took him into Maharaj’s territory and he edged us in front. It wasn’t all one way traffic as the man known simply as ‘Prendy’ got on the world of ball, dropping deep, but the RD defence held firm, especially after 21 minutes when the ball definitely didn’t cross the line before Kev Ryan got back to make a ‘Goal line’ clearance.
John Tarpey showed his ball winning ability moments later and laid off to Eoin ‘The Other Midfielder’ O’ Shea who set up a score for Niall O’ Keeffe, who I can confirm is ‘a big, big man’. A nice flick from Tarps set up O'Shea for a super score from the sideline despite the best efforts of Benji, who surely hasn’t met a player of the Kilkenny man’s calibre before.
The first killer blow came in first half injury time as No.15 rounded his man and squared for the in-form O’Keeffe to finish, and the same pair linked up again as the mystery corner forward lofted in a sweet sideline and the Galway man managed to combine with Hurney, Rory and O’Shea to cause enough havoc to create an opportunity which Eoin finally finished to the net. The 60-second burst made the half-time score 2-6 to 0-6 and led to at least 2 laptops on Dublin’s southside being smashed in celebration.
Benji and friends (Seriously there was 3 of them at times) continued to struggle with O’Shea into the second half but the first serious blow of the game came as Matt pulled up injured early, much to the dismay of the smitten commentator. Little did Faughs expect the secret weapon we had in reserve, as Podge made his glorious entrance to take up a slightly more ‘Meat and 2 veg’ role than the Kerry man. Podge wasn’t long on the pitch when Faughs got a goal, but I’m sure the two aren’t related.
Gary Hurney kept the scoreboard ticking over, Faughs defender Tom McVeigh not the first corner back to be called naïve in comparison to the veteran. Speaking of veterans, Colm Gahan made his 2020 A team debut after 40 minutes, and the referee flashed his red card moments later. Amazingly, these 2 events weren’t related either. This reporter will join the commentator in playing the Arsene Wenger “I didn’t see it” card, knowing that Podge is so irritating on the pitch, any action against him could be considered reasonable.
Podge and Gahan combined well to set up Hurney for the third goal shortly afterward, and it looked like plain sailing for the visitors. But quarter finals aren’t known for being handy and Faughs hauled themselves back level in the final quarter. Some on-the-edge play from club chairman/full back/all-round good guy Ciaran Gough kept RD from falling behind, before 2 super turnovers from O’Shea, now playing deep, helped to set up a chance for Podge. Receiving a perfectly weighted pass form Gahan, Podge tactically hit his shot so far wide the ref thought it must have got a touch, and the 65 edged us back in front. The ever-reliable Bryan Rossiter kept his cool when a shot from the dangerous Prendy dropped short and restored calm to the RD men as we entered injury time.
The super athletic Shola was denied by questionable means when taking on Gough and all of Brendan’s irritating fitness work in Drimnagh began to pay off as super defensive work rate led to 3 wides by Faughs in injury time. When Maharaj/Mahoney found himself in acres of space in front of goal with 34 minutes gone, he took the wise option in extending the lead to two. The point proved crucial as Faughs manufactured a 21-yard free, and the famous Eddie Hogan made his way up from his goals to do his best Anthony Nash impression. Much to everyone’s relief, a combination of Rossi, Hurney and Colm Walsh got behind the ball, and Faughs’ last real chance was gone. Fittingly, Podge was the last to touch the ball, and fittingly, he booted it awkwardly towards the sideline before collapsing to his knees yet again as the final whistle went. Well done to both teams on a great game and a serious battle!
Thanks to Faughs’ Conor and Larry for the super production, thanks to Eoin O’Shea for his dominant performance, and thanks to the hurling Gods for getting us over the line. Please join Cathal Hester and special guest Liam Lanigan for coverage of the semi final against Lucan on September 6th!
junior A Quarter Final! (+ Junior E Cup... Don't call it a shield)
,There will be no match report this week. Who wants to read about a defeat?! 2 defeats? We were robbed. That's all you need to know.
But the Junior A championship rolls on and the A team will be all guns blazing for thier knockout clash with Faughs on August 23rd. Two games away from intermediate it's all hands on deck as we make the trip to Tymon to take on kevin Deady's buddies. For the B's, its Cup time later the same day as we look to get back on track against St.Sylvesters, who will be out for revenge after last year's championship clash!
RD AUÚ!!2888888888888888
But the Junior A championship rolls on and the A team will be all guns blazing for thier knockout clash with Faughs on August 23rd. Two games away from intermediate it's all hands on deck as we make the trip to Tymon to take on kevin Deady's buddies. For the B's, its Cup time later the same day as we look to get back on track against St.Sylvesters, who will be out for revenge after last year's championship clash!
RD AUÚ!!2888888888888888
Chef O'Keefe Squashes Cuala Beef
The 2010s provided us with a lot of great rivalries. Messi and Ronaldo outdid each other night after night, first Kilkenny and then Galway represented the nation in epic trilogies with Tipperary, and the Mayo footballers fought a never-ending battle with the voices in their head. But any sports fan worth their salt knows that the strife between Realt Dearg and Cuala was the true defining conflict of the decade. Our games with the Dalkey hurling empire were never short on drama, whether it was Colm Gahan kicking ass and taking names (And subsequently having his name taken) in the 2017 Junior C final, or Jamie O’Hara sending the 2018 Junior B final to extra time with a last gasp score, or even Brendan Walsh’s bizarre “My shoes cost more than your house” rant. But while our mighty A team always battled to the death, a victory of real consequence had eluded us.
After just 3 weeks of preparation in varying levels of apocalyptic cold and wet, the downright pleasant conditions in Shankill made for good hurling. We even had a decent crowd turn out on the RD sideline, despite mass in Terenure being at 10:30 and Shankill being halfway to Kerry. Such was the size of the crowd, Brendan Costelloe was banished from the dugout amid social distancing concerns and took up residence in Kieran O’Brien’s old stomping ground as the unbiased umpire. As it took a few minutes for Brendan to take his place behind the goals and begin with the text updates, the opening minutes are shrouded in mystery, but what we know for sure is that Conor Maharaj was in typically scintillating form, and borderline decapitated poor Brendan with a rasper of a shot that found the Cuala net after 15 minutes. Reports that Conor took aim at Brendan after hearing some of his questionable comments on the Viber group are unconfirmed. The goal, along with scores from Niall O’Keefe and Eoin O’Shea gave RD a narrow lead heading into the water break (Get with the times lads, we do water breaks now!)
Whatever the purpose of the water break, it didn’t succeed in cooling off the RD forwards. Maharaj continued to rip through the Southsider’s defence, but the co-best score of the day (More on that in Match Report B) came from centre forward Niall O’Keefe. So frustrated was the big man at his team constantly coming up short against Cuala, he took it all out on a poor unsuspecting sliothar pumped in his direction by Rossi. Not bothering to catch it (His hand was tired from catching 45 puckouts), he let fly on the double and artistically dissected the uprights for a score that is undoubtedly the greatest thing the Annaghdown club has ever given the GAA. The remainder of the first half was tight and the RD lead was maintained with a fine score by Tarps and by a just-not-fair-at-Junior-A level save by Rossi. The clean sheet for the Corkman left it at a 1-10 to 0-10 lead at half time. There was much rejoicing when it turned out Brendan was way off and the lead was actually 1-11 to 0-8, but does the score really matter if everyone was happy to be back? (Yes, yes it does.)
Inspired by O’Keefe and O’Shea dominating in the forwards, and Kev Ryan and Brendan raining ball down on them from the half back line, RD extended the lead after the break, before Matt Lynch decided to remind Niall and Conor who the true artist of the team is with a mazy run through the Cuala defence which ended with a cracking finish from Rory “Setanta” O’Loughlin for what would have been a goal of the day contender any other weekend. (Building up nicely for the B match report aren’t we 😉) . Roared on by Clubman of the year Mike Richardson, Rd had no intention of letting up and the intensity shown in this part of the game will stand the team in good stead for the coming weeks.
Amidst the madness, Eoin O’Dwyer took time out from dominating loose ball with his midfield partner Kieran Kelly, taking a moment to reassure corner back Tom Quille he wasn’t at fault for a Cuala lineball. (He was probably right, because in my experience Tom hasn’t been at fault for a single thing since joining the club). O’D then went on to confirm our fears about his ability to social distance, as his overly friendly apology earned him a well-deserved yellow card. Mike O'Connor succumbed to injury after 40 minutes of typically all action play, but his replacement Colm Walsh took over the mantle and continud to drive the team on from the halfback line. Despite the best efforts of Tom, Chubba and the Gougher in the full back line, there’s too much quality in the Cuala forward line for them not to have a purple patch, and they hauled themselves back into the game with a scoring burst in the last quarter, but we don’t need to talk about that. They took their points and the goals came etc, etc. Podge came on around that time but I'm sure that had nothing to do with it. The last goal, after a penalty save by Rossi, brought it back to a one point game in injury time before an ending that was in keeping with the crazy and breathless finishes that games between these 2 sides have tended towards. With a 21m free to level the scores, Cuala’s normally reliable free taker took the ball too far forward on the lift and saw the referee award a throw in.
To the untrained eye it looked like a horrendous error, but on reviewing the tapes the reasoning became clear. (Oh yeah, I have tapes. The office of PRO sees all.) In another moment of Covidiotic beauty, O’D rushed to the free taker’s side, forcing him to step over the 21 in a bid to maintain the 2-metre free taking accepted distance. With no legislation yet drafted to deal with such an infringement, O’D’s quick thinking rescued the game and the final whistle blew as Rossi was about to launch another attack with the resulting free out. O’Keefe was said to be apoplectic at missing out on the chance to claim one more ball from the sky. The wooing of Brendan Walsh was heard all the way in Drimnagh as RD finally got one over on the Dalkey men, and the win leaves us in a great position for the game with Good Counsel on July 28th. Let’s just hope for a longer cameo from Podge, because let’s face it, he makes for a much funnier match report.
Realt Dearg:
Rossi, Chubba, Gough, Tom Quille, Mike O’Connor (Colm Walsh), Brendan Walsh, Kev Ryan, O’D, Kieran Kelly (P. to the ODGE), John Tarpey, Niall O’Keefe, Matt Lynch, Conor Maharaj, Eoin O’Shea, Rory O’Loughlin.
“The Marty”
Across the city in Drimnagh, the B team started their campaign to better last year’s semi final run against Balinteer St. Johns. With spiritual leaders Niall Mullane and Gahan (Covid free since ’93 baby!) restored to the starting line-up, hopes were high that the RD veterans would have an edge over a youthful Ballinteer team. I should add that Ronan Moloney is also a spiritual leader because he would be sad if I didn’t. There were fresh faces too as Jack Downes made his championship debut for the club and brought some much-needed pace to the backline (To the whole club to be honest). At the other end of the pitch, A team manager James made his long-awaited championship debut and brought something other than pace, but definitely something.
A solid start was capped when Richie Kelly got on the end of a loose ball to finish to the net. Scores from Martin Breathnach and a free from Tom Kehoe had got RD off to a good start, but as the game entered its second quarter the St.Johns men started to get a hold on the middle of the field. Helped in no small part by the absolute free machine lining out at wing back for RD (Thanks again for the nod Conor :D ) the visitors turned it around to lead 1-8 to 1-3 before a fine score by Tom kept us in touch. The mini-celebrity lining out at corner forward for St.Johns was having a hard time getting to grips with Paul Lynch throughout the first half, and a double booking just before half time was a poor reward for the RD corner back twice getting to the ball first and being pushed in the back. The game briefly threatened to get away from the home side but a good save from Trev and impressive covering from Jack kept us in touch.
Despite the deficit, there was a feeling at the break that Maharaj’s men were well in the game and a run of scores after half time could turn the game on its head. The feel good factor was added to as Dr.Niall Kennedy returned to the side for the first time since going under the knife and made use of his new bionic heart (Open to correction on the exact nature of Niall’s operation).The Stars would regret a few unlucky misses after the break as we began to get on top, but it took until 5 minutes into the second half before Ruairi Henchy got the scoreboard moving for the second half. Guardiolaraj was on red alert for any frustration boiling over, stepping in to reassure Gahan after a wide and being told in no uncertain terms that the Wexford man was “F****** relaxed”.
It was a good thing he was too, as Gahan’s ball winning in the half forward line (as well as his cat-like reflexes to rescue a woeful sideline from yours truly) helped to turn the tide and edge us back into the game. A great score from Richie and a great bit of umpiring from chairman Gough had us within 2 when the moment of the day arrived.
2 of RD’s substitutes combined to set up the magic that was to come. Domhnall Carberry, who hurled more ball in 15 minutes than the man he replaced had in 45, launched a long ball into the full forward line, where it was met by the always energetic (Energetic/Manic) Brian Finn. Winning the ball and laying it off to Martin, Finn then did his best Scottie Pippin impression and GOT THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY. Sniffing a goal and with 2 defenders bearing down on him, Marty took it upon himself to create a bit of hurling history with a never before seen move.
Winding up on his right, the Waterford man adjusted at the last second to drill the sliothar into the ground between his marker's legs and danced around the baffled defender to collect the rebound. The rest seemed like a formality but there aren’t many players at this level who would bury the ball so sweetly into the top corner off his left and sneak us into a one-point lead. The breathless ref immediately called a water break to allow everyone to recover and consider whether there was any point in continuing, having already lived out the high point of our hurling careers just by being in Martin’s presence.
There was more to come from St. Johns though, as their star corner forward briefly escaped Paul’s clutches and burst through the defence only to be denied by a superhuman block by Tom Kehoe. A late free edged the men from Marley Park ahead, and with time nearly up, their lead didn’t look to be in danger. (See what I did? Lol!)
Little did Ballinteer know that Kevin ‘Danger’ Deady had taken the field at this point, and after a heroic catch by Moloney from a last gasp puck out, the club’s last remaining Dub demanded the ball into the corner to launch a final attack. When a younger man might have used his pace to make space for himself, Danger wisely took his time and drew the foul while totally not overcarrying the ball. With his confidence now through the roof, Marty stepped up and knocked over the free to earn a point for his team. Also, it didn’t fit in neatly to any of the above paragraphs, but I should add that Gavin was marking a man 3 and a half feet taller than him and didn’t give him a sniff. Fatherhood or no fatherhood his title as worlds tidiest full/corner back remains secure.
With a point on board it’s all to play for away to Naomh Mearnog on Thursday week.
Realt Dearg:
Trev, Paul Lynch, Gavin O’Connell, Jack Downes, Gary Walsh (Domhnall Carberry), Niall Mullane, Ronan Moloney (Back in the 7 shirt baby!!!), Ruairi Henchy (Danger), Tom Kehoe, Ultan Dillon (Niall Kennedy) Colm Gahan, Peter Nodwell (Frank McNamara), Richie Kelly, James Aherne (Brian Finn), Martin Breathnach.
After just 3 weeks of preparation in varying levels of apocalyptic cold and wet, the downright pleasant conditions in Shankill made for good hurling. We even had a decent crowd turn out on the RD sideline, despite mass in Terenure being at 10:30 and Shankill being halfway to Kerry. Such was the size of the crowd, Brendan Costelloe was banished from the dugout amid social distancing concerns and took up residence in Kieran O’Brien’s old stomping ground as the unbiased umpire. As it took a few minutes for Brendan to take his place behind the goals and begin with the text updates, the opening minutes are shrouded in mystery, but what we know for sure is that Conor Maharaj was in typically scintillating form, and borderline decapitated poor Brendan with a rasper of a shot that found the Cuala net after 15 minutes. Reports that Conor took aim at Brendan after hearing some of his questionable comments on the Viber group are unconfirmed. The goal, along with scores from Niall O’Keefe and Eoin O’Shea gave RD a narrow lead heading into the water break (Get with the times lads, we do water breaks now!)
Whatever the purpose of the water break, it didn’t succeed in cooling off the RD forwards. Maharaj continued to rip through the Southsider’s defence, but the co-best score of the day (More on that in Match Report B) came from centre forward Niall O’Keefe. So frustrated was the big man at his team constantly coming up short against Cuala, he took it all out on a poor unsuspecting sliothar pumped in his direction by Rossi. Not bothering to catch it (His hand was tired from catching 45 puckouts), he let fly on the double and artistically dissected the uprights for a score that is undoubtedly the greatest thing the Annaghdown club has ever given the GAA. The remainder of the first half was tight and the RD lead was maintained with a fine score by Tarps and by a just-not-fair-at-Junior-A level save by Rossi. The clean sheet for the Corkman left it at a 1-10 to 0-10 lead at half time. There was much rejoicing when it turned out Brendan was way off and the lead was actually 1-11 to 0-8, but does the score really matter if everyone was happy to be back? (Yes, yes it does.)
Inspired by O’Keefe and O’Shea dominating in the forwards, and Kev Ryan and Brendan raining ball down on them from the half back line, RD extended the lead after the break, before Matt Lynch decided to remind Niall and Conor who the true artist of the team is with a mazy run through the Cuala defence which ended with a cracking finish from Rory “Setanta” O’Loughlin for what would have been a goal of the day contender any other weekend. (Building up nicely for the B match report aren’t we 😉) . Roared on by Clubman of the year Mike Richardson, Rd had no intention of letting up and the intensity shown in this part of the game will stand the team in good stead for the coming weeks.
Amidst the madness, Eoin O’Dwyer took time out from dominating loose ball with his midfield partner Kieran Kelly, taking a moment to reassure corner back Tom Quille he wasn’t at fault for a Cuala lineball. (He was probably right, because in my experience Tom hasn’t been at fault for a single thing since joining the club). O’D then went on to confirm our fears about his ability to social distance, as his overly friendly apology earned him a well-deserved yellow card. Mike O'Connor succumbed to injury after 40 minutes of typically all action play, but his replacement Colm Walsh took over the mantle and continud to drive the team on from the halfback line. Despite the best efforts of Tom, Chubba and the Gougher in the full back line, there’s too much quality in the Cuala forward line for them not to have a purple patch, and they hauled themselves back into the game with a scoring burst in the last quarter, but we don’t need to talk about that. They took their points and the goals came etc, etc. Podge came on around that time but I'm sure that had nothing to do with it. The last goal, after a penalty save by Rossi, brought it back to a one point game in injury time before an ending that was in keeping with the crazy and breathless finishes that games between these 2 sides have tended towards. With a 21m free to level the scores, Cuala’s normally reliable free taker took the ball too far forward on the lift and saw the referee award a throw in.
To the untrained eye it looked like a horrendous error, but on reviewing the tapes the reasoning became clear. (Oh yeah, I have tapes. The office of PRO sees all.) In another moment of Covidiotic beauty, O’D rushed to the free taker’s side, forcing him to step over the 21 in a bid to maintain the 2-metre free taking accepted distance. With no legislation yet drafted to deal with such an infringement, O’D’s quick thinking rescued the game and the final whistle blew as Rossi was about to launch another attack with the resulting free out. O’Keefe was said to be apoplectic at missing out on the chance to claim one more ball from the sky. The wooing of Brendan Walsh was heard all the way in Drimnagh as RD finally got one over on the Dalkey men, and the win leaves us in a great position for the game with Good Counsel on July 28th. Let’s just hope for a longer cameo from Podge, because let’s face it, he makes for a much funnier match report.
Realt Dearg:
Rossi, Chubba, Gough, Tom Quille, Mike O’Connor (Colm Walsh), Brendan Walsh, Kev Ryan, O’D, Kieran Kelly (P. to the ODGE), John Tarpey, Niall O’Keefe, Matt Lynch, Conor Maharaj, Eoin O’Shea, Rory O’Loughlin.
“The Marty”
Across the city in Drimnagh, the B team started their campaign to better last year’s semi final run against Balinteer St. Johns. With spiritual leaders Niall Mullane and Gahan (Covid free since ’93 baby!) restored to the starting line-up, hopes were high that the RD veterans would have an edge over a youthful Ballinteer team. I should add that Ronan Moloney is also a spiritual leader because he would be sad if I didn’t. There were fresh faces too as Jack Downes made his championship debut for the club and brought some much-needed pace to the backline (To the whole club to be honest). At the other end of the pitch, A team manager James made his long-awaited championship debut and brought something other than pace, but definitely something.
A solid start was capped when Richie Kelly got on the end of a loose ball to finish to the net. Scores from Martin Breathnach and a free from Tom Kehoe had got RD off to a good start, but as the game entered its second quarter the St.Johns men started to get a hold on the middle of the field. Helped in no small part by the absolute free machine lining out at wing back for RD (Thanks again for the nod Conor :D ) the visitors turned it around to lead 1-8 to 1-3 before a fine score by Tom kept us in touch. The mini-celebrity lining out at corner forward for St.Johns was having a hard time getting to grips with Paul Lynch throughout the first half, and a double booking just before half time was a poor reward for the RD corner back twice getting to the ball first and being pushed in the back. The game briefly threatened to get away from the home side but a good save from Trev and impressive covering from Jack kept us in touch.
Despite the deficit, there was a feeling at the break that Maharaj’s men were well in the game and a run of scores after half time could turn the game on its head. The feel good factor was added to as Dr.Niall Kennedy returned to the side for the first time since going under the knife and made use of his new bionic heart (Open to correction on the exact nature of Niall’s operation).The Stars would regret a few unlucky misses after the break as we began to get on top, but it took until 5 minutes into the second half before Ruairi Henchy got the scoreboard moving for the second half. Guardiolaraj was on red alert for any frustration boiling over, stepping in to reassure Gahan after a wide and being told in no uncertain terms that the Wexford man was “F****** relaxed”.
It was a good thing he was too, as Gahan’s ball winning in the half forward line (as well as his cat-like reflexes to rescue a woeful sideline from yours truly) helped to turn the tide and edge us back into the game. A great score from Richie and a great bit of umpiring from chairman Gough had us within 2 when the moment of the day arrived.
2 of RD’s substitutes combined to set up the magic that was to come. Domhnall Carberry, who hurled more ball in 15 minutes than the man he replaced had in 45, launched a long ball into the full forward line, where it was met by the always energetic (Energetic/Manic) Brian Finn. Winning the ball and laying it off to Martin, Finn then did his best Scottie Pippin impression and GOT THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY. Sniffing a goal and with 2 defenders bearing down on him, Marty took it upon himself to create a bit of hurling history with a never before seen move.
Winding up on his right, the Waterford man adjusted at the last second to drill the sliothar into the ground between his marker's legs and danced around the baffled defender to collect the rebound. The rest seemed like a formality but there aren’t many players at this level who would bury the ball so sweetly into the top corner off his left and sneak us into a one-point lead. The breathless ref immediately called a water break to allow everyone to recover and consider whether there was any point in continuing, having already lived out the high point of our hurling careers just by being in Martin’s presence.
There was more to come from St. Johns though, as their star corner forward briefly escaped Paul’s clutches and burst through the defence only to be denied by a superhuman block by Tom Kehoe. A late free edged the men from Marley Park ahead, and with time nearly up, their lead didn’t look to be in danger. (See what I did? Lol!)
Little did Ballinteer know that Kevin ‘Danger’ Deady had taken the field at this point, and after a heroic catch by Moloney from a last gasp puck out, the club’s last remaining Dub demanded the ball into the corner to launch a final attack. When a younger man might have used his pace to make space for himself, Danger wisely took his time and drew the foul while totally not overcarrying the ball. With his confidence now through the roof, Marty stepped up and knocked over the free to earn a point for his team. Also, it didn’t fit in neatly to any of the above paragraphs, but I should add that Gavin was marking a man 3 and a half feet taller than him and didn’t give him a sniff. Fatherhood or no fatherhood his title as worlds tidiest full/corner back remains secure.
With a point on board it’s all to play for away to Naomh Mearnog on Thursday week.
Realt Dearg:
Trev, Paul Lynch, Gavin O’Connell, Jack Downes, Gary Walsh (Domhnall Carberry), Niall Mullane, Ronan Moloney (Back in the 7 shirt baby!!!), Ruairi Henchy (Danger), Tom Kehoe, Ultan Dillon (Niall Kennedy) Colm Gahan, Peter Nodwell (Frank McNamara), Richie Kelly, James Aherne (Brian Finn), Martin Breathnach.
2020 Gets Underway |
All 3 teams are in action for their first game of 2020 this weekend!
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