Result: 4 27 to 1 14
Dotsy lays it on the line – The Long Fella Reports from O’ Toole Park
Reborn, renewed, rekindled, delve into the ‘Oxford’, call it what you will, David O’Callaghan gave a near perfect performance at a chilly O’Toole Park on Thursday evening against a hard working St. Pats side. His display, festooned with fine scores, augurs well the season ahead for the club and the Dubs. In many ways he defies the laws of nature, in that his speed of reaction and pace across the turf were as good, if not better, than when he first graced the big field a ‘few’ years ago.
Dotsy strikes again
Every game has a foundation of sorts and this round robin game was no different. The engine room of the winners side was firmly bolted on the forty, Simon Lambert marshalling the line of most influence on the game. Palmerstown’s Liam Rushe had skilled company with him and Shane Stapleton and, for most of the hour, Aiden Glennon, dug deep to create opportunities. But the “buck stopped” in the hands of Lambert, Stephen Hiney and Shane Durkin. The attrition rate was high and as a consequence, the free count, mostly in favour of the underdogs, resulted in Stapleton finishing as his sides top scorer on 1.10.
The Boden midfield of Stephen O’Connor and the razor sharp Conor Robinson scooped up a lot of the loose ball and kept feeding the attack. Paul Ryan, in an unaccustomed role at centre forward, showed some classy touches and one in particular stood out. A ball from the clouds was about to enter the “mincing machine”, a ruck of sorts, but Ryan wasn’t having any of it and plucked it from the sky. In the act of heading for the sideline, he sidled out of the waiting tackles and on his favoured left side, he sent the sliotar over the black spot, a score well worth the entry fee.
By half time the contest was as good as over at 3.12 to 8 pts., and apart from Boden having a “blue” period, a propensity to add extra passes where none were required, our opposition knew that their fate was as good as sealed.
On the terrace “Holyhayes” was in exuberant mood and proferred a string of witticisms, as well as a few agrarian beauties for the assembled brotherhood, mostly disciples of the Tipp persuasion. The parochialisms flowed through the second half of one way traffic, sometimes interrupted by the excellent contribution of Collie O’Neill, a replacement for the unfortunate Conor McCormack, scorer of the first goal. A discussion on Dan Breen, yes that man from history, was halted by the sight of Shane Stapleton burying the sliotar into the roof of Garry Maguire’s net, Pats only goal of the game.
“Scratch” Fletcher now got his modest contribution into the mix and kept the Tippites bemused for the last ten minutes, all the time keeping tabs on the score from deeper into Upperchurch. On the question of whether it is “Dotsy” or “Docsy”, the response was instant, “It matters not, it’s still a goal”. Our PRO gave the news that Judes had claimed the spoils over Crumlin at Kiltipper.
The physical exchanges continued right to the last few minutes, but none were as bone shattering as the meeting of Glennon and Conal Keaney from the opening half. Keaney, who was having fine game, and in possession, was met head on by Glennon in an American Football type exchange. But these boys are made of tough stuff and Glennon returned to the field after running repairs.
Next up it is Judes, our near neighbours, a game surely to be looked forward to, an opportunity for bragging rights, but no more!