Village voice McEvoy aims to have final say

Jim O’Sullivan

The Village, as they are popularly known, seemed to be coasting to an overdue championship success until DJ Carey sparked a remarkable recovery for Young Irelands, which all but won them the final in sensational fashion.

Earlier this week, team-mate Brian McEvoy relived those epic closing minutes, when he was in Dublin for a media briefing in advance of this week’s All-Ireland club semi-finals.

Peter Barry, McEvoy and Philip Larkin had invested a decade-and-a- half in the club and were the ones who had most to lose that day in Nowlan Park.

“For the three of us, in the twilight of our careers, it would have been a heartbreak not to win a championship. All of a sudden we had one, then a Leinster title and now we are in an All-Ireland semi-final. It’s like a dream come true,” he says.

“It was a real rollercoaster county final. There we were, seven or eight points up with eight minutes to go. Everything seemed to be rosy. Then DJ was up to his old tricks again and rattled home three goals. He had the chance to win it with the last puck of the game, but thankfully we held on,” he said.

On the way to tomorrow’s semi-final against Antrim and Ulster champions O’Donovan Rossa in Parnell Park, James Stephens had to overcome a severe challenge from the Wexford representatives, Oulart the Ballagh, powered by Liam Dunne and Martin Storey among others.

“That was in Nowlan Park and it was a tough game. We were slow to start but gradually we found our feet and finished quite strongly,” he said.

“The final against UCD was the hardest match and before it you had this debate, should they be in it or not. They had a star-studded team and while we played very well in the first- half, we seemed to tire later on. We had been out seven of the previous eight weeks and it seemed to take its toll. They really came at us and

we were lucky to hold on,” he said. Unlike the opposition, their preparations for the semi-final have gone well. Training continued for a fortnight after the UCD game and over the Christmas period it was just a matter of ticking over, often through outdoor soccer matches among themselves. McEvoy last played in Croke Park in the 2002 All-Ireland final win over Clare and he didn’t have to say what it would mean to him and his team-mates to be there on March 17.

“It’s 23 years since we last won. The Village has a very proud tradition in the club championship. We have won it twice and we’re hoping to carry on that great tradition, that we won’t let ourselves down.

“If we can get to the final it will be great!”