Retracing Your Steps

I mentioned earlier in the year that you don’t need a GPS in Ireland. Our signposts actually work quite well. Drive anywhere in the country and you will pass through towns and pass by signs that evoke thoughts of great G.A.A. strongholds and their famous warriors. I’m too young to be nostalgic but a trip down to see my Aunt in Durrus on Tuesday last dug up many memories of football and hurling matches over the years. We seemed more often to go west than any other direction and there was a fair share of big days down in that part of the country.

We passed through Innishannon first, probably one of the best venues around to play a match. To get from the dressing rooms to the pitch you had to run down the bank through the crowd. It was the scene of my first adult Championship game when a fantastic goal from substitute Barry Gray ensured Courceys season came to an end and we marched on to the South-East final.

We followed the Bandon River into the town it was named after. The wet mucky December day in 2001 when we went head to head with that mighty Ilen Rovers team seems a distant memory. Our hope of causing a major upset was on course at half-time but fell away after the break.

The following year I’d take my Senior bow there against Carbery, marking a whippet from Barryroe called Harrington. We had a good battle and it opened my eyes to the pace and physicality of Senior Football.
The twin cities of Ballineen and Eniskeane host the St. Marys club in their marvellous G.A.A. grounds. More challenge games against Carbery and Beara took place down there. I marked Alan O’Regan in the Beara game and I couldn’t combat the huge height difference. He took me for two goals. A humbling experience.

You pass by Ballinacarriga next. We played Randal Og there a week before the Hurling Championship in 2001. Dad was training the team and he was experimenting with the idea of starting Blondie in goal and me in the forwards and then switching us depending on how the game was going. Blondie was priceless. Before a game a few years ago, he gave one of the lads two phones and two different sets of instructions of what to say depending on which phone rang!

You hit Dunmanway next. Dohenys country is a footballing stronghold. They took us to the cleaners in Drimoleague in the U-21 County in 2000. There was a lad Stevie Collins in the opposite corner to me and he ran riot early on. Ricky was in America and William Cummins was training in the Curragh. He was released but only made it down for half-time. The obituary was written at that stage. I’d have my own battle with Collins two years later when Carrigdhoun played Dohenys in the SFC down the road in Clon. He was the fastest and trickiest fella I ever had to deal with but i kept with him, just.

You see the signs for Skibbereen and it reminds me of a great trip we had down there to play a West Cork league game. Dad had organised a bus and off we went. As we travelled down on Tuesday we couldn’t quite recall the result. I think we snuck it by a point. We stopped in Rosscarbery on the way back and it was the start of an almighty session that continued long into the night when we returned to Kinsale that night.

Drimoleague comes next and I already mentioned the U-21 fiasco. In 2001 we played a County Semi-Final against Adrigole down there. I marked John Loch and he proved a handful. He tragically died a couple of years later. Two pieces of play defined that day. The first was Ricky’s marshalling of Brendan Jer to the point the latter saw red late in the game. The second was one of the best goals we ever scored and came from a marauding run from Kenny. That was a big win for us.

The final venue of note was the home pitch of Caheragh. When we passed it we couldn’t place it. It was literally in the middle of nowhere. I’m still not sure what village it is affiliated too. We played a challenge game down there one night and I remember Corcoran being carted off to hospital. I pulled my hammer the same evening. The work they’ve done with their grounds since is amazing and they now have very impressive floodlights. It shows what a bit of ambition and drive can do.

I’m sure in years to come; I’ll be heading off on my holidays somewhere and be looking up at the departures screen. I’ll be telling my kids of those epic G.A.A. days in Maastricht, Luxembourg, Zurich, Dubai and other far flung places. Nothing like it.