Barrett Cup
The Rock (C team) 1-15 Beale 3-12
Where it began, I can’t begin to tell ye—-Sweet Martin Courtney! boom boom boom- Form is temporary, CLASS is permanant!! Starting without players injured and sick was a tough ask. We were missing Anthony Shanahan, Daragh Healy, Ciaran O’Connell, Nissan Crean, Steve Walsh,Maurice Kelter, Theo Diggin, not to mention ‘Bad Boy’ Hogan, half a team straight away to deal without. None the less, all the training and commitment put in by our big squad since late February paid off in spades as we still had a couple of dozen players togged out for this first round of the ‘Barrett Cup’ Championship. I’d like to thank both John Tobin and Wayne for kindly lending us a set of Jerseys with 30 in it. Personally, I’d hate to have lads togging out and not be able to give them a jersey, as every member of this panel is a serious link and have their part to play.
Thank god we were able to give 20 players a run and made good use of our bench, which probably made all the difference in the end. We started the match with, in goals, Barry Galvin, Tom McLaughlin, Peter’pop’ Williams, Richie ‘Goldust’ Conway(capt), Micheal Godley, Brian Kearney, Liam Walsh, mid-field was Fergal Maunsell and Shane Crowley, forwards were Frankie Murphy, Alan ‘Fancy’ Duggan, Paul ‘legs’ McGannon, Dave Varley, Martin ‘king pin’ Courtney and David ‘speedy’ Courtney. Subs on the night were Shane Begley (50th) Pat Costelloe (36th), Seanie Power (38th), Paul Galvin and Oscar Kirby both came on in the 45th minute. Others on bench were Garry Lynch, Tom Healy, David Walsh and ‘Mean Machine Ween’
The opposition were Beale, and we truly owed them one, after our meeting earlier in the season in the league, where we hit the post 4 times and still just lost out on a wild night. The ball was thrown in @ 7-15 and we were very quickly of the mark, with Fergal Maunsell pointing from play in the first minute. This was swiftly followed 2 minutes later by another point from play by Martin Courtney after a great run from Shane Crowley, who picked out Martin well. A minute later Paul McGannon took a fast free to Martin, who placed the ball lovely to Alan Duggan who calm as you like slotted between the posts, to make it 3pts to nil. A lapse in concentration in the 6th minute allowed the Beale full-forward to ‘sneak’ in behind ‘Pop’ to grab an equalizing goal. This proved to be the full forwards only moment of glory as ‘pops’ quickly bounced back, and didn’t put a foot wrong for the rest of the match, indeed he proved to be the best of a very solid back line on the night.
The 10th minute saw a lovely 1-2 played by 2 of our minors, Alan Duggan and Mike Godley, which resulted in another fine point by ‘Fancy’ Duggan. Beale levelled things 2 minutes later. Our next score was another finely kicked score from the boot of Martin Courtney in the 17th minute, we were really dominating possession at this stage but failing to put scores on the board, with several wides. There was a delightful inter-linking between the Courtney brothers which resulted in David just slotting wide, when it would have been easier to put the ball in the net. Beale finished the half with 2 points to leave the score at half-time Beale 1-03 to 0-05 points to the ‘Rock’. Rumour has it, the half-time talk by Seanie, Kevin and Don was heard above in Strand Road and further afield.
Second half, and as we began, out of the blocks fast, with another fine point from play by Martin Courtney in the first minute of the half to level it up again. This was followed by lovely movement by David Courtney to Fergal Maunsell who found Frankie, who pointed well. A minute later and Beale were again level with a point from play. The 35th minute saw Beale put the ball in the Rock net again, with a goal from play where we should have had a free on the lead up to it. The standard of refereeing leaves alot to be desired, and I believe the ref for this match must have exceptional eye-sight, as he was constantly 50 yards off the play.
The next few minutes saw us bring in ‘Pretty Boy’ Costelloe for ‘legs’ McGannon and ‘Bull-Dog’ Power for Tom ‘Twinkle Toes’ McLaughlin. Pat Costelloe was involved straight away, finding Martin Courtney who pointed again in the 40th minute. Pat himself kicked a fine score from play in the 45th to put us within 1 point again. A double substitution at this stage saw our own ‘Paul Galvin’ and Fergal ‘Oscar’ Kirby come into the match for Richie ‘Goldust’ and David Varley. Both getting involved immediately and playing well. Oscar found Alan Duggan with a lovely pass for Alan to point again, to bring us level once more. A minute later saw Beales’ last score of the match, when ‘injury’ hit our keeper, and the ball ended up in the back of the net, 3 points down and 11 minutes left.
The remainder of the match was dominated by a greatly spirited rock performance, the ball for the last 11 minutes never left the Beale half of the pitch. A sublime goal by ‘Man of the Match’ Martin Courtney in the 52nd minute proved to be the turning point of the game. It was the ‘Courtney’ stage at this point with Martin kicking for fun, added 2 more points from distance in the 54th and 55th minutes. Frankie added another from play in the 57th and Alan ‘Fancy’ Duggan capped a fine performance with a 4th point from play in the 58th minute. The final whistle, and ‘The Rock’ progressing to the 1/4 final of The Barrett Cup on the 19th of August, on a score-line of 1-15 to 3-05. Unusual, all scores coming from play, no mean achievement. Onward and upwards from here. It was lovely to see our Captain on the night, Richie ‘Goldust’ being smothered with hugs and kisses from his beloved Michelle. There was several fine performances on the night, but overall it was the team work and never say die attitude that saw us through, Martin Courtney, Peter Williams, Alan Duggan, Mike Godley, Shane Crowley, a blend of old and young, just to mention a few, all played well.
Many thanks to Ciaran O’Connell and Ger Mannix for doing umpire on the night for us, well done lads. There will be much fighting for places for the 1/4 final with lads to come back into the frame from sickness and injury. Indeed only this morning I saw ‘Bad-Boy’ Hogan taking the advice provided by club physio, Derek, it brought a tear to my eyes to see him walking hand-in-hand with his own Michelle on Banna Strand and he assures me he’ll be back in contention soon. Training resumes Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7pm, word from Seanie to ALL the panel is have your partners sleep on the couch for the next 2 weeks, for the good of the team. I’d like to thank also Wayne and the senior players who made the effort to support us, much appreciated lads, thanks. 
