O’Reilly hailed for ‘wonderful act of sportsmanship’
On Sunday, Adam was on the Ringmahon Rangers side which was losing 1-0 to U14 Premier Division leaders Corinthian Boys when Corinthian goalkeeper Alan Kelleher suffered an injury with the ball in his possession. A defender picked the ball up and threw it out of play, leaving the referee with no option but to award a penalty.
On the instructions of coaches — Kieran Brett and Barry McCarthy — O’Reilly rolled the ball back to the keeper from the spot kick, an act of sportsmanship which spread throughout social media over the last 48 hours.
The first year student at Douglas Community School recalled: “I was getting ready to take the penalty but my dad and the managers were saying just to roll it back because it would be unfair to score.
“The Corinthians people were saying ‘Well done,’ to me, that it was a great act of sportsmanship, but my own team-mates were a bit disappointed that I hadn’t tried to level!
“The reaction was very exciting. I didn’t realise anything until after school on Tuesday, when my mum said that it was all over Facebook.”
The Cork Schoolboys League issued a statement congratulating O’Reilly and all those involved with the club.
League bosses believe O’Reilly’s action ‘renews our faith and belief in our involvement in the schoolboys game’ following a bitter underage FAI Cups controversy.
“This was a wonderful act of sportsmanship by Adam and his coaches and deserves the highest praise. Ringmahon qualified for the last 32 of the now infamous national cup competition by beating the same Corinthians side to get out of Cork — yes, you have guessed it, on penalties! In a year that many people in Cork questioned why they were involved in schoolboys football given the national cups farce, this simple act of sportsmanship renews our faith and belief in our involvement in the schoolboys game we all love here in Cork. In a sport where increasingly everything seems to be about money, this wonderful act of sportsmanship is priceless.”
