BEFORE WE delve too deeply here, let’s take a moment this winter day to give a thought to Seán Murray, the ponytailed St Brigid’s defender who must be feeling like this year will never end.
Way, way back on the second Tuesday of 2011, he turned out at full back for a Dublin side that got pipped at the post by Westmeath in an O’Byrne Cup match played in rotten conditions in Mullingar. And tomorrow in Tullamore, he’ll face the flag for this provincial final – as it happens against another Westmeath team – on the very last possible Sunday of the year. The fixture calendar is a merciless beast sometimes.
For St Brigid’s to still be standing after the amount of games they’ve had to play in such a short space of time is pretty remarkable. This will be their ninth championship game in 11 weeks, yet it was they rather than Portlaoise who were still full of running during extra-time in Parnell Park a fortnight ago.
Sharpness and cohesion has appeared to be a more dominant legacy of their journey to this point than tiredness.
That they’ve also managed to stay largely injury-free through it all is quite an achievement in any team, let alone in club players.
They go into this final as two-point favourites in most bookies’ estimations, which is probably just about fair enough. In Murray (a centre-back for the club), Barry Cahill and Laois man John O’Loughlin, St Brigid’s can be immovable around the middle of the pitch.
Further forward, Paddy Andrews has been untouchable throughout the Leinster championship, with Philly Ryan a sniping, accurate foil. On heavy pitches and against county champions, they’ve run up scores of 2-15, 1-20 and 2-16 since they got out of the Dublin championship.
Garrycastle have clearly had a less strenuous run to the final. After completing their third Westmeath championship on the bounce at the end of October, they gave Longford Slashers a trimming before keeping a frisky but young Athy team at bay in the semi-final.
With the Dolans – Dessie, Gary and James – all prominent and former county midfielder David O’Shaughnessy still carrying the fight at midfield, they’ve jumped every hurdle they’ve had to without a huge amount of fuss.
They’re old hands at this level, having lost to Portlaoise at this stage two years ago and if ever a Westmeath team was finally going to break the county duck in this competition, they’d be hard-pushed to find better conditions than these.
St Brigid’s are a formidable outfit but they can be careless in defence on occasion and, with Dessie Dolan especially laying waste to all before him these past few weeks, Garrycastle have it in them to run up a decent score.
But there’s been an epic quality to the St Brigid’s run ever since they beat Na Fianna on October 1st. They’ve come a mighty long way to allow it slip through their fingers now.
Verdict: St Brigid’s.
GARRYCASTLE: C Mullin; M McCallon, J Gaffey, T McHugh; K Henson, D Harte, E Mulvihill; S O’Donohue, D O’Shaughnessy; R McGowan, D Dolan, J Dolan; G Dolan, P Mulvihill, J Duignan.
ST BRIGID’S: S Supple; A Daly, Martin Cahill, G Norton; C Freeman, S Murray, G Kane; B Cahill, J O’Loughlin; C Mullins, P Andrews, Mark Cahill; K Kilmurray, K Darcy, P Ryan.
Referee: Syl Doyle (Wexford).
