No prawn sambos for Keane at Croker

He might have been one of the best soccer players in the world, but there were never any airs and graces about Roy Keane, and nor were there on Saturday when he travelled to support the Cork hurlers.

No first class or chauffeur-driven limo for the modest Mayfield man, instead, like thousands of other Cork fans, he took a standard Irish Rail seat to Dublin with a few friends and bought tea from the service trolley.

It goes without saying that there wasn’t a prawn sandwich in sight, but the group brought their own home-made sambos for the trip to Croker.

Most fellow travellers who spotted him left him alone, but when he did get asked for a photograph he got a merciless slagging from his friends: “What’s up with the sour aul head on you Keane, will you smile for God’s sake,” one of them said — except that he didn’t say God. And then the serious Keane look gave way to a beaming smile, as the banter flowed.

He did put the heart cross-ways in one Clare supporter who asked if he would pose for a picture with himself and his sons.

The Clare man got the killer-Keane stare and a “are you serious?” response. Was he seriously expected to stand in for a picture surrounded by Clare jerseys? Nervous silence.

But then he laughed and it became obvious he was joking as he threw his arms around them, and made three Clare people delighted to have their picture taken with a Corkman on a day they will never forget.