An ‘ordinary bunch’ on the verge of greatness

Date Published: 12-Mar-2009

IT’S a Friday night in Tynagh, the lights are on at the GAA pitch, and it’s hardly a remarkable scene. Players arrive in twos and threes, hop out of their cars, grab their hurls and gearbags, head for the dressing-rooms, and then out onto the pitch where their coach begins the warm-up routines.

It’s a scene which could be replicated in any rural club across the country. A tiny handful of diehards linger by the clubhouse door, sharing a bit of gossip and discussing last week’s game in the crisp night air, while the club officers have congregated at the entrance gate. They discuss membership fees and missing jerseys, the small little things which are the bread and butter of any GAA club.

Leo Smith arrives late, cursing the traffic around Ballinasloe, while the youngster on the team, Martin Dolphin, is getting a bit of physio in one of the dressing-rooms after going over on his ankle in the big game at the weekend. He jokes about all the slagging he’s getting at school and is told to rest up for a few days. He’s only 18, training and playing with his heroes, and lovin’ it.

Damien Hayes pauses to say he’s found a charity to benefit from his symbolic beard, while team manager Johnny Kelly is…