As Roy Keane famously pointed out in one of his numerous dialogues – “The only thing that drifts along are dead fish”. And having been in and observed St Brigid’s GAA club’s fantastic facilities last weekend at the Corofin v Castlerea game, it was obvious to the majority of us that some clubs in comparison have been drifting along for the past few decades from an infrastructural point of view.
Dead fish, they may not be; however, they are not making many waves either. The Kiltoom club have a superb Prunty pitch laid on special sand brought down from Enniskillen which stood up to and took all that nature could throw at it over the weekend and was still capable of holding two championship matches in the second week in November. It was a great advertisement for that type of pitch, that despite persistent torrential rain, it was still in good shape after two hours of football. How many other clubs in the province could have held a double header last Sunday? €150,000 plus is all it cost I was told, money well spent in my view. They also have full bar facilities, a fine big press area with a top-class view of the pitch, a big hall for people to meet up and socialise or do some indoor work, a decent stand and state-of- the art lights for their all-weather pitch.
To their credit the club members facilitated the two games exceptionally smoothly and displayed a high degree of kindness - including free hot teas and soups. Such decency and kindness is rarely seen at many venues around the country in my experience. Everything seemed to have been catered for; all their Maors had high- visibility vests with Naomh Brid on the back of them, so the large number of volunteers around helping with parking, selling programmes, etc. looked really well and reflected well on the club. Indeed it was a great example of a football community in full swing for the cause. It was a really well-run day and great credit must go to their club. We could all learn a lot from their professionalism and the high degree of volunteerism on show. Based on what I observed last Sunday, I have no doubt whatsoever that they are a club which will continue to remain at the forefront of Roscommon football.
A lot done but a lot more to do
Only the unwavering travelled last Sunday to Kiltoom and the Corofin devotees were rewarded with a really solid display by Corofin in the second half when they blew away a hard-working but very limited Castlerea side. Corofin showed a significant improvement in the cohesiveness of their forward play from the Galway county final. Players linked up much more, space was created regularly, and the pace of David Hanly, Alan O’Donovan, Joe Canney, Alan Burke, Gary Sice and the experience of Trevor Burke and Jason Killeen had Castlerea in all sorts of trouble. Hanly in particular had one of his better games for the club and any time a wing-forward can retire with four points from play on the board represents a good innings.
I watched the re-run during the top-class weekly TG4 highlights show on Monday evening and Hanly spoke with great humility and honesty as he was presented with his man-of-the-match award.
Based on his assessment and his level-headedness in the post-match interview none of the panel will be getting carried away with their nine-point win over the Roscommon champions. They face Eastern Harps on Sunday week in the Connacht final at a Galway venue – probably Pearse Stadium – and they know that presents a terrific opportunity to collect the club’s first Connacht title since they beat Allen Gaels back in the winter of 1997. The Harps were inspired by new Sligo selector Paul Taylor at full-forward and if he is stopped it is difficult to see how the Sligo men will win the county’s first club Connacht championship since 1983. From a Corofin perspective it was good to see former Galway star Jason Killeen back in the fold and providing a very effective target man from number 14. Killeen was shabbily treated by Galway management in the championship of 2000 and it is to his credit that he is still going strong and coming back into such good form after a series of injuries. If Killeen gets himself into top fitness and gets a few full games under his belt he could be a really potent weapon on the edge of the square and a man who could make all the difference to his team. Still, with the big names in club football at a national level like Nemo Rangers and Crossmaglen warming to the task, neither Eastern Harps nor Corofin will be looking past next Sunday week.
