Oughterard’s young lions turn Croke Park into their field of dreams

Sport can unite like nothing else – and the sea of green and white that enveloped the Hogan Stand on Saturday evening was testimony to the power of a dedicated bunch of footballers and mentors to lift the collective spirit like nothing else.

This was a day few had reckoned on – few, that is, outside of the group of almost 40 players and a management team led by Tommy Finnerty, a man steeped in Oughterard’s GAA story for his entire life.

Their odyssey began with small steps, surviving the drama of two titanic county finals against Mícheál Breathnach and gathering momentum against Tulsk and the Neale before bursting down the doors by seeing off Templenoe on a memorable wet day in Kilmallock.

But this was different class; the green and white of Oughterard on the rolled lawn of Croke Park – new heroes with familiar surnames like Tierney and Clancy and McGauley and Molloy and Monaghan and Walsh and Lee carrying the dreams of so many.

Because this All-Ireland intermediate Club Final against Magheracloone of Monaghan wasn’t just a day for the parish; they flew home from Boston and San Francisco and London and across Europe to be part of their home village’s greatest day.

For generations, the names of the Keoghs and the Sullivans and the Tooles and the Gibbons were synonymous with Oughterard’s greatest sporting success – a single senior county title from 1938.

But now there are new heroes – and the connections bridge that eight-decade gap. Eddie Sullivan was the captain, son of Kieran and heir to that great footballing dynasty of Dinny, Tom, Charlie and Edward.

See full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune..

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