Blatant free there, ref bottled it
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Suddenly Brigids found themselves slipping and Pearses ought to have had a free to win that.
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How has the ref missed that?
He didnât miss it, he bottled it imo. Afraid of giving a free in against the county champs with the last kick of the game, he just wanted to blow it up
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Splendid fare there in the last five or six minutes. Comedy refereeing saves last yearâs All-Ireland finalists. âLook it, I couldnât give it, it would be bad for the county if they went out.â
At 0-7 to 0-10 a Bridgetâs defender committed a classic of the genre of the âtelegraphed blocked down kickâ, ie. when you can see three seconds out that if a player attempts a kick theyâre going to be blocked down, and they do the big ignorant attempt at a kick anyway, and get blocked down anyway. Thereâs something very Patrick Kavanagh-esque about that sort of kick. A defender mistakenly believes they have the poise and stride of Apollo, but they demonstrate that they have the ability and agility of Rab C. Nesbitt attempting an Olympic gymnastics vault. Itâs the sort of thing where me oulâ fella, who hated swearing, would immediately shout âaaahhhhh, ya feckinâ thickâ at the player who would be blocked down. And there would be real anger in that exclamation. And he was right. The player who gets blocked down in that manner should carry a carboard (cardboard) placard on their front, held around their neck with string, with âTHICKâ written on it in big black marker.
This blocked kick by the Bridgetâs defender changed the game weâve just watched. Bridgetâs were coasting, and then the psychological momentum changed. These visually symbolic moments, where a player on the team leading does something THICK, they change games.
Justin McNulty being blocked down by Michael Donnellan in the last minute of the 2001 qualifier between Armagh and Galway is the undisputed champion of this genre. Armagh were coming away out of defence to complete a famous comeback by scoring the winner, and McNulty went full thicko, performed the greatest telegraphed blocked kick ever, and four seconds later Paul Clancy had the ball over the bar and Armagh out of the championship and Galway on the road to winning the All-Ireland.
What ever happened to drop kicks? Conor Deegan loved a good drop kick out of defence. He never got blocked down. Ever.
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Some quality brainfarting going on in the Bridgetâs defence. Almost a magnificent own goal off a hari-kari backpass there.
The Pearses black numbers are solid disgrace
A lovely running citeĂłg point by Paul McGrath there. That was all about upright posture. A pearl of a point.
They donât deserve to get a retake of that free
Nevermind, they got a â45 not a retake
An absolute ridiculous decision to take that short
And they miss it. Good enough for them
That jersey design Padraig Pearses have does a great job of making their players look wider than they are. They look like fat fucks in the last couple of minutes as theyâve let a three point lead almost evaporate.
This is absolutely suicidal stuff from both sides
You love to see it
Both management teams have just given up and are leaving it to the lad to make a solid bollocks of it on their own
Brigids in âan dĂŠ deireadhâ anois.
Who fucking picks that up off the ground there
Ah lads
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Brigidâs could have no luck for their carry on
Superb game.
This will reverberate all over Connacht club grab all association
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Bad day for Tessio.
Ballymun Kickhams formed in 1967 when the amalgamation of CJ Kickhams and Ballymun Gaels happened. Ballymun were fielding underage in the 60s and lots of players from the likes of Wadelai and surrounding areas played. These areas now probably consider themselves Glasnevin proper and even Glasnevin North would be infra dig I suspect. The construction of the âBerlinnerâ back in the day to impede free movement from the flats doubtlessly consolidated this.
Kickhams were founded by drapery workers based in Dublin in 1885 - they had a large Tipp contingent - hence the name - as Kickhamâs family business was a drapery store in Mullinahone. They were successful up to 1920s, even winning a couple of All-Irelands when it was club-based. They soldiered on up to the 40s/50s by when a juvenile section had been formed which saw them win 3 successive minor football titles.
This led to a split within the club with regard to future direction which saw the Co Board ultimately intervene and facilitate the creation of Na Fianna in 1955 - Jimmy Gray being one of those who moved to NaF as a result. I donât think thereâs any residual rivalry as a result of this nowadays and there have been players who played for both clubs, but there would be a rivalry as neighbours. Erinâs Islesâ boundaries with both clubs are also diffuse and complicate things a bit further!
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This was quarter-final weekend in the Antrim SHC. The competition was a mess before it started as last yearâs Intermediate Champions, Creggan pulled out on the eve of the draw leaving one of the groups with 3 teams in it. So, all 3 were going through to the knock out stages regardless. Loughgiel topped that group with 2 wins and Ballycastle and St Endas drew. Both lost by 10 to Loughgiel and St Endas went through in 2nd on points scored. Cushendall topped Group 2 , Dunloy were 2nd and St Johns went through in 3rd.
Last night at Rossa Park, St Johns beat St Endas as expected, 0.30 to 2.15. That sets up a semi-final against Cushendall. The other quarter final was this afternoon, Dunloy vs Ballycastle. Expectations were low up at home in Ballycastle. They were pathetic against Loughgiel 2 weeks ago, no fight and whatever game plan they had didnât work. They dropped players for the championship who had been regulars during the League, the mood was low in the camp so needless to say Dunloy were hot favourites. I didnât even make the journey up for it and watched online.
Dunloy took an early lead and were 3 up. Ballycastle launched a long ball in, Neil McAuley flicked it to the net and the green flag went up. However, the ref came running in from midfield, overruled the umpire and gave a square ball. Harsh. Tiernan Smyth, Ballycastleâs free taker was injured in the Loughgiel game so different free takers were tried out today but 2 very scoreable frees from inside 45 m were missed. But they hung in and in injury time Dunloy were only 3 up, 0.12 to 0.9. But Dunloy broke and got the goal, a real blow just before half time for The Town.
Early stages of the 2nd half were point for point and half-way through the half with Dunloy 5 up, a high ball dropped into the Dunloy box and the corner-back pulled down a forward. Penalty and a lifeline for Ballycastle. However, Conor Boyd hit it too high, and Ryan Elliott batted it away. It was a poor effort. With 8 minutes left and 5 in it, Ballycastle attacked down the wing, a great hand pass inside to the onrushing Lorcan Donnelly put him right through and he buried it. 2 in it with 9 left. We couldnât close the gap and Dunloy closed it out in injury time with 3 points to win on a 1.24 to 1.18 scoreline.
The question I had after it was why had Ballycastle not played with the same fight in the Loughgiel game? If they had lost by less than 10 in that game, they would have had a winnable quarter final with St Johns rather than facing Dunloy. Dunloyâs county contingent Keelan Molloy, Coby Cunning and Nigel and Seann Elliott really stood up for them today but worringly for them Molloy limped off in the last 5 minutes and looked in pain. They will need to play better against their old rivals Loughgiel but Loughgiel were not impressive against Ballycastle so I think Dunloy will benefit from the tight game today to beat them. Cushendall will thump the Johnnies in the other semi-final so should be a predictable Cushendall Dunloy final.
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