Result: 3 08 to 1 11
And The BAndwagon Rolls on …. Limrick Layder Reports
On a fine autumnal october morning the hardy bucks from the minor 3 hurling team gathered at the clubhouse for their final manoeuvre to capture the Dublin Minor D hurling Championship of 2016. All troops were accounted for and it was ‘up horse and away’ via the M50 to the Trinity Gaels Complex near the coastal town of Maladide, the opposition were St Sylvesters – a good team that beat us at home early in the league.
The pace of the day was well set by Mick ‘The Actor’ Keville who took the lads through a good drill set in the warm up. Coach ‘The Gav’ Duff gave them their final instructions and the lads were well primed for the battle. As a small gesture of belligerence the Boden mentors decided ‘to share’ the same touchline as the already ensconced Sylvesters crew.
The ball was in and the game was on….Ross’The Gallery Hurler’ McCormack settled us with an early point …a few minutes later ‘Tricky’ Duff scored from a close in free…and then Sean ‘TheAssassin’ Gorman hit in a Hail Mary of a shot with just enough ‘top spin’ to dip under the post and register a green flag….we were up and motoring! Sylvesters came back into the game and got a few fine pints from play and dead balls. By half time the teams were even at 1-5 apiece. The blackboard and chalk was out again – we had to adopt a new strategy for the 2nd half – the Coach decreed..shore up the middle section…midfield was to go deep….. (were we in a maternity ward or were we going fishing?).
Meanwhile our ‘man in the gap’ Matthew ‘the Spit of Des’ Nolan was …and continued all through to have a stormer of a game. The full back line were no less influential….the ‘Dasher’ Bradshaw in the right corner attacked every ball and was up against a very good forward , Red Hugh at full was tormented all day by the Sylvesters towering full forward – but never bowed and as the match progressed he grew stronger and stronger….our Captain Eoin ‘Steady’ Fetherstone was doing what he did all year – having a great game. ‘Tiger’ Murray was a little more subdued than usual but still had just enough dander to frighten his opponent. Eoin ‘Cool’ Dennehy was having a tidy game and made one majestic catch late in the game that lifted the Boden crowd on the far side of the pitch…the ‘Turfcutter’ Basquel soldiered away all day and came strong in the last 10 mins when the going got real tough.
At midfield we had ‘Duracell’ O’Neill who ran himself into the ground and had just enough energy late on to join the attack and score a winning goal. His comrade at midfield was the ‘small farmer’ McGrath who worked very hard all day and popped over a nice tidy point with about 5 mins from to go (‘The Goal was On’ …I was told in the car on the way home…luckily wise council prevailed and the point was taken…going for glory at that point could have resulted in a long walk home!)
The last time we saw the ‘Smiling’ Joe McGrath – he was on the broad of his back in an ambulance heading for Tallaght Hospital with concussion and a broken wrist – but he declared himself fit on Sunday morning – he had a fine game and controlled the ‘middle third’ … “coaches parlance” … In the centre was ‘Bold Boy’ O’Donoghue – he was like a man with a scythe in a back haggart – levelling all before him …and he hit a few balls well! Sean ‘The Assassin’ Gorman scored 2 -1, his last point was a real over the shoulder job – just for the fun of it! Sean ‘the Gazelle’ Lambert played well and scored a fine point. The ‘Gallery’ Mc Cormack and ‘Tricky’ Duff both had good games and roamed the full line with confidence. The strapping Cian Corcoran and Mairtin O’Rian came on the make a meaningful contribution – Mairtin went for a glory goal when a point was on – ‘the goalie made an unbelieveable save’ – he tells me afterwards, Cian contested a few vital high balls that we won.
The final score – BBSE won 3-8 to 1-11.
The Boden crowd swarmed onto the pitch with unbridled joy….there was great rejoicing …. like a Tinkers wedding they’d come from far and wide. Our Debonair Chairman, Mr Moran led the way, ..the 3rd Policeman was there – with that contented look on his face, ..Chief O’Neill was there from the A’s, ..the genial M. Garvey from the B’s with his sidekick ‘The Fiery’ General O’Donoghue were there, ..Mick from the NRA, who showed the way with last years’ team was there with his good lady – adorned in white and well contrasted by the Captains mother in blue, Gerry the Juvenile Chairman who drove back from Cork (after drinking one glass of Poitin the night before with his father in law) was there , ..our Newsletter Editor/Photographer Cathy was there, ..Long John Ryan was there – having just flown in from Dubai to survey the progress of the grass on the clubhouse pitch, check out his hacienda up on the hills and head back out again, ..the goalies grandmother ‘Geraldine’ was there….and in fairness to most of them they were in their Sunday best and nicely tipped up!
We thanked our hosts at Trinity Gaels for their hospitality, bought a few of their lotto tickets and headed in the direction of the dublin mountains.
We regrouped at 7.00pm in the clubhouse – Mick had laid on a lavish dinner – Chicken Curry ‘Leitrim Style’ (his grandmother picked up the recipe at an ICA meeting in Aughwillan after the war- when meat was scarce) – finding a bit chicken was similar to finding the ring in a barmbrack! Having said that the Coach, Frank ‘the baker’ and me fein levelled a few re-heated plates of the said curry at a late hour and strolled home most contented. It was a glorious night …the sky was only majestic … studded with stars….Glory Glory God in Heaven!
p.s. A great thanks to our extended panel (the ‘Runner’ James Kinsella, ‘Grand young-fellow’ Mark Agnew, the ‘teachers son’ Ciaran McDonald, the ‘Politician’ James O’Reilly and the man from Hong Kong – Tim Chung) who unfortunately didn’t get a run out on the day but made vital contributions to matches during the year which helped get us to the final.
p.p.s. (1) Our Captain made a fine acceptance speech after the presentation of the cup!
p.p.s. (2) Thanks to our statistician Des and waterboy Harry – who helped keep the show on the road.
p.p.s. (3) and finally …please don’t forget – tickets for the Dog Night – available from the cattle jobber @ 0876672700