Inters fall just short in semi-final

Ballyboden St. Enda’s 2-10

Readers of teenage fiction would undoubtedly be familiar with Lemony Snicket’s book entitled “a Series of Unfortunate Events”. The series comprises a total of books often set in a dark and gloomy environment. A family of orphaned children find themselves facing adversity at every turn but every so often the sun shines and glimmers of hope emerge only to be dashed by another unfortunate unforseen calamity.  In hindsight it was against such a backdrop that the intermediate footballers took to the pitch last Saturday in Tymon Park in the semi-final of the All-county Championship.

En route to the semis the squad had lost a number of key players and this continued right up to the morning of the game. Despite this confidence was high among the troops

Boden started brightly and raced into an early two nil lead after 5 minutes with goals from the two Johnnys, McGuire and McGinn. We were playing well and by the first half water break it was 2-2 to 0-2.

As the half rolled on there were further scores for both teams with the two-armed bandit Mikey Dunne notching three points and another Conor Lowe who thundered through the middle like prime beef in a stampede. At half time Boden led by 2-5 to 0-4 for the home team.

It was at this point that the story began to take a turn for the worst. The sun started to settle on our bright and sunny display. A couple of mistakes, a strange decision from the man in black and a lack of penetration conspired to turn a beautiful sunny day into gloomy evening. After a series of unfortunate events the scoreboard read 2-10 to 3-12 in favour of the home team.

In the end we trooped disconsolately off the pitch like Beaudelaire orphans. Hopefully our friend Lemony will one day pen an uplifting Disney-like ending that becomes a reality for this Boden team.

On a lighter note I have to acknowledge the great bunch of lads who put so much into this season. It was always going to be uncertain but their application and dedication only confirms in my mind that success is not far away.

On a personal note I have to thank my fellow members of the management team, namely Wally, Daire, Mick and Spud who have been tremendous. Without them the whole enterprise wouldn’t be the same. The continued support of Anthony and his senior management team has been very beneficial for the strength of the intermediate panel. Also, the football committee and Jack Nolan have been very supportive of our efforts and for that we are truly grateful.

Finally, and I’ve already mentioned the players, but this year with the large numbers it was difficult to provide satisfactory competitive game time to many players owing to the small number of games. The players of all codes are the lifeblood of the club and we should all endeavour to do what we can to ensure that players play games this year and next year and beyond.