(Under)dog day afternoon
St Gall’s coach John Rafferty had a hard time bringing his charges down to earth at full time, but they were entitled to celebrate.
“We have nothing won yet,” he shouted in a jubilant dressing-room after their 0-10 to 1-6 success over the Munster champions. “Ye can be proud of what ye have achieved out there today against one of the best club teams in the country, but only half the job is done. The victory will mean absolutely nothing if we don’t win the final in Croke Park.”
His players gave him everything: “I thought the lads worked their socks off. A number of players went down with cramp. The pace of the game was incredible and it’s a tribute to both teams that they played like they did for the full match.
“I know our supporters will be delighted but we must not get carried away. There is still one more hurdle to jump.”
Sean Burns, the St Gall’s scoring hero with seven points, was almost lost for words: “If anyone had told me earlier in the week that we would beat a team of Nemo Rangers’ calibre in the All-Ireland semi-final, I’d have had him certified.
“If there is one person I would love to meet right now that’s my grandfather, sadly no longer with us. What he wouldn’t give to see this day. St Gall’s in an All-Ireland Club final, it’s just unbelievable.”
Down the corridor Nemo coach Ephie Fitzgerald was coming to terms with the loss. He and his team were disappointed, but ever the gentleman, he congratulated St Gall’s.
“Let me say at the outset that the better team won and we have no complaints,” said Fitzgerald. “They put us under enormous pressure right from the start; something we hadn’t bargained for. We could never get into our usual pattern of play and all credit to St Galls, they obviously had their homework done on us and their plans obviously worked well for them. The fact that we failed to score from play in the first half tells its own story.”
St Gall’s will be joined on March 17 by Galway’s Salthill-Knocknacarra, who beat Kilmacud Crokes in the other semi final, and the westerners’ story doesn’t lack romance either.
For instance, captain Maurice Sheridan proves there’s club life after county death, but the 31-year-old former Mayo star stood in the Pearse Park corridor, hands on hips, and said: “It’s not about me, I know it’s a cliché, but it’s not about me.”
After heart-breaking All-Ireland final defeats with Mayo in 1996 and 1997, victory would give Sheridan a fairytale ending, but he knows better than most the magnitude of that final step. The penultimate step was hard enough.
“At half time we just asked everyone to dig in again. At midfield, Darren McGee had a fabulous first half on me, and I have to hold my hand up,” he said.
“But we all said we’d put in a big effort in the second half, and we did that. Sean Armstrong showed the player he is with the scores he got. I hadn’t even thought about an All-Ireland final, it was just Kilmacud Crokes the whole way. Tomorrow morning I’ll think about St Patrick’s Day.”
Armstrong was Salthill-Knocknacarra’s top gun with four crucial second-half points. His performance yesterday suggested he’s a man for the big day. Not a bad man to have.
“In the first half, ball wasn’t really coming in, but I kept telling the lads around me to be patient,” he said. “I had to go out the field because Michael Donnellan got a bang on his knee. In the second half, the ball started coming in and we got the scores.”
Amstrong’s day contrasted sharply with that of Crokes’ key man Mark Vaughan, whose dismissal on a straight red after 53 minutes constituted friendly fire against his own team.
“I thought the straight red was a bit harsh from where I was standing, but we have no complaints with the result,” said Crokes manager Nicky McGrath.
“Those lads have given me tremendous loyalty. And I was proud of the fact that they waited out there on the field and showed respect to Salthill-Knocknacarra after the game. Hopefully we will come back stronger, better footballers, and mentally tougher.”
No prizes for guessing who’ll be asked to listen closely when the classes on mental toughness start. McGrath described Vaughan as “an honest lad, a good lad”, but his late tackle on Cian Begley didn’t check a promising Salthill-Knocknacarra attack - it happened in the full-back line. It didn’t secure possession for his team - Begley had played the ball away. It was petulant and self-destructive.
Even if he didn’t get a straight red, he would still have received his second yellow and departed the stage on the verge of the denouement, when Salthill-Knocknacarra guided themselves over the line with two late 45s from Sheridan.
So, Antrim v Galway on St Patrick’s Day: a must-see for any romantic.
