Marathon championship ends in a storm

Maitiú Monaghan

“The only marathon I’m interested in is Snickers” said Ultan Sherry, a Monaghan GAA volunteer, when asked if he’d any interest in running for four hours on a bank holiday Sunday morning.

We considered ourselves to be the lucky ones, stood out on the rickety old balcony at Páirc Mhúire, before the JFC final on Saturday.

The rain is hammering down on the roof above, and the wind is threatening to blow us to the other end of the Scotstown parish.

Crestfallen, because I’d gotten wet on my way into the clubhouse, I looked down on the Drumhowan players trying to go through their warm-ups.

Shooting into the wind towards the village end, some shots miss, some catch net behind the goals.

Storm Boelo wreaked havoc on their preparations, hijacking a kick passing drill, allowing no bounce of a ball, freezing the players as they tried to get loose.

Sneezing and freezing, I looked across at the fans who hadn’t got a space under the covered stand.

A drowned rat? Yes, but a rat with press privileges.

An opening minute goal caught us all off guard, with a long free kick getting caught in the wind and dropping dangerously into the square.

It wasn’t until Sunday that it was correctly attributed to Ciaran Logue.

That had set the tone for the dog fight to come. Aghabog brought a real physical intensity that referee Niall Finnegan was happy to let go.

It threatened to boil over at times, especially when Drumhowan’s inter county man Darragh McElearney was harshly black carded midway through the opening half.

Trudging off, he was greeted immediately with a windbreaker from a coach, and a pat on the back from the fourth official- his Monaghan teammate, Davy Garland.

Why the Donaghmoyne man was officiating a game in the middle of a storm 24 hours before he played in the IFC final is beyond me.

I'm no expert on fourth official-ing, but he appeared to be doing a damn good job; marshalling the side line, taking sub slips, announcing added time, keeping the managers in their respective lanes.

Maybe it was all the marathon fuelling clips popping up on social media this week, but I did wonder if he should be at home eating pasta with his feet in front of the fire.

Garland’s role as a custodian of the game is no secret.

Playing for Monaghan earlier this year, Garland captured headlines when successfully changing Noel Mooney's mind in an Ulster SFC game, allowing Jack McCarron to kick a two-point side line to send the game to extra-time.

He was also an umpire in St. Tiernach's Park for the SFC final the week before and did a fine job, with no calls for hawk-eye or its implementation in club football in the aftermath.

And kudos to him too for volunteering. Our games wouldn't go ahead without our referees and their officials. He's a better man than me- I'd have shirked that particular responsibility on a rain sodden day.

And that’s also why, unlike Davy Garland, I didn't finish top-scorer in the Intermediate Football Championship this year. And I didn't get a winners medal.

To be fair that may not be the only reason. But I've said it before- they're made of sterner stuff in south Monaghan.

Sunday's IFC final at O'Neill Park, Clontibret, was no less wet, but much lower scoring.

So heavy was the rain on Saturday night, that they had to re-line the pitch the morning of the game.

One steward spoke of shovelling water- describing the rain as if it were an extract from Angela’s Ashes.

They’re some operators in Clontibret, the pitch was like a carpet for game time. You would never have known.

The wind was blowing right down the middle, with the rain coming and going in showers. Then the sun would shine, and suddenly we were all sweating in our soaking winter coats.

Donaghmoyne led by four at the break- it didn’t look like it would be enough.

However, Paddy Martin’s side got their match-ups spot on and kept Ballybay’s forward line largely at bay.

Like Drumhowan the day before, they had to weather a physical and metaphorical storm in the second half as Ballybay and Boelo did all they could to stop the Fontenoys.

After both games there were emotional scenes.

It was coming up to six o'clock by the time we wrapped on Saturday, and the last light had seen enough.

Understandably, the neutrals cleared out sharpish, and the officials tried to get the trophy presentation going.

But Drumhowan were in no rush, with county chairman Padraig Sherry presenting the trophy to his club mate Caolan Reilly.

After winning on Sunday, Donaghmoyne captain Ronan McDonald told the Celt that winning the title was like “getting a lift home from the Oasis years ago on a Saturday night- total relief at the end of the night.”

Having covered the Club Championships since early August, I could relate to McDonald.

Last weekend’s finals brought an end to an epic season spanning over three months.

When the final whistle blew on Sunday, bringing it all to a close, I too breathed a sigh of relief.

Then McDonald was telling me about the Ulster Club - which starts next weekend.

Ah.

Someone pass the Snickers.