Mike Quirke: Drinking in the dark side of modern football

This bunch of stubborn jackeens are relentless, writes Mike Quirke

After Saturday night’s game in Tralee, I strolled out of Austin Stack Park with 12,000 other bewildered souls and headed off down the town not knowing whether to be disappointed or delighted at what we had just witnessed. I pulled into Benners Hotel for a pit-stop with a few friends.

The hotel is now owned by the O’Sullivan family, and is run by three of the brothers - Alan, Brian and John. The three lads have serious sporting pedigree themselves. Primarily rugby men, John carved out a successful pro career with Munster among others, before injury stopped him in his tracks.