Oughterard rise to occasion to shock fancied Kerry foes

Oughterard 1-12

Templenoe 0-12

THERE was a special moment at the end of this exciting All-Ireland intermediate club football semi-final. Hundreds of Oughterard supporters emptied the main stand, scaled the wire fencing, poured onto the sodden pitch at Kilmallock, and made a beeline for the far corner near the dressing rooms, to congratulate their heroes who’d just caused the mother of all upsets.

Emerging from the delirious sea of green and white, and walking in the opposite direction, was Matthew Tierney, the game’s top scorer. Having embraced manager, Tommy Finnerty, and some teammates, after the final whistle, the Oughterard playmaker headed towards the side-line to savour the moment with his father. The smile on the younger Tierney’s face as he enthusiastically hugged Matt senior, who is in a wheelchair, lit up the County Limerick venue. It summed-up what victory meant, not just to the Tierneys, but to the entire Oughterard team, panel, club and wider parish.

There were hugs all round at Fitzgerald Park. Parents embraced their sons; wives and partners did likewise; siblings and neighbours and friends – and even just acquaintances or strangers – competed with each other to take selfies with players, to shake their hands or give them a slap on the back.

The scenes in the winning dressing room afterwards, as Oughterard celebrated with gusto reaching an All-Ireland final – a first Croke Park appearance for the club – was priceless, too. In the modern era of sanitised and stage-managed press conferences, it was refreshing to see and hear an outpouring of raw emotion.

Of course, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Bookies believed Oughterard were due a clipping; the star-studded Munster champions, with four Kerry senior players, only had to turn-up to take the spoils. Oh, how wrong they were, which made it all the sweeter.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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