Offaly's revenge
By Michael Pierse
Sunday saw a fittingly unpredictable end to a particularly
tumultuous season for the Offaly hurling team.
Who would have envisaged such a resounding victory for a team
which had continually undersold itself for so much of this year?
Obviously the Offaly team had set themselves a target, and on
Sunday they met it. This was their vengeance, their answer to the
critics.
The first twenty minutes of the match was marked by a banal and
lifeless performance from Offaly. Point after point trailed
between their posts, with insult being added to injury as Charlie
Carter touched a goal into the Offaly net. It seemed the end for
the embattled team.
But that is what makes Offaly's story so interesting. Their
ability to resurge from apparent disaster. A conviction, a
passion which led the team to victory.
A disappointing performance against Kilkenny in the Leinster
final had led to the hasty resignation of their celebrity manager
Babs Keating, who made a wise move as he faced incipient
impeachment. This had left the beleaguered team in limbo, unsure
of their direction and possibly losing confidence in their hopes.
The appointment of a name of little prominence, Michael Bond, as
the new manager of the team would also have added to the
uncertainty blighting Offaly at the time. Bond, who was nicknamed
by some as ``Double-oh-zero'', was to be yet another unexpected
facet in the rebuilding of Offaly, despite a bad performance by
the team in their initial few games. Two weeks after Bond's
appointment, Kilkenny crushed the team by a twenty point margin
in a challenge match. A terrible match against Antrim ensued, but
a life buoy was thrown to the team in the Clare match.
One week after their initial draw, ten points down, it seemed the
final blow to a by now decimated team. But they clawed their way
back to within three points when a referee's early blowing of the
whistle granted them redemption. Following a replay, there was no
looking back. The stuff that Rocky movies were made of. Funnily
enough, as a county they are officially against the back door
rule through which they were admitted to the quarter-final.
In the second half Offaly's enthusiasm and fervour seemed to
blossom. In defence there was strength and grit, at the other end
there was magic and skill. Joe Errity and Brian Whelehan,
longtime friends from Birr, scored decisive goals which left a
shocked Kilkenny floundering. Yet another against-the-odds story
was the one goal and six points scored by Brian Whelehan,
Offaly's best defender. Soldiering on against a torn hamstring
and the effects of `flu, his was another story which will become
a part of Offaly's hurling legends.
Defend Rule 21
One issue which was brought to the fore outside Croke Park was
the importance of continuing support for the maintaining Rule 21
of the GAA, which is still a real necessity.
Sinn Féin Youth organised the protest in favour of upholding the
Rule and passed out leaflets intended to inform the counties'
fans of the motivations behind it. Several members of the Garda
Síochána were not so síochána at all. Two mounted Gardaí told the
protestors to move as they were obstructing the area, which they
were obviously not doing, while another Garda told them that they
were ``inciting hatred''. While leaving the area holding Disband
the RUC posters, one protestor was attacked by a mounted Gardaí
who used his horse to bump into the man. Quite daringly and
comically, Offaly fans, many of whom expressed support for the
protest, managed to distract the horse by slapping its behind,
much to the annoyance of the offending Garda.
Rule 21 is not an obstruction to peace and reconcilliation, it is
a protest against repression, and foreign domination, which, lest
we forget, is still as prevalent as it was prior to the Good
Friday Agreement. The GAA is about comradeship and Irish culture.
The protest was about ensuring its name is not denegrated or
sullied by the hands of our opressors.
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