THE SEASON ENDS ONE GAME EARLY AGAIN!
08/05/2008
Cork Con 17 Clontarf 3

Firstly, let me apologise for the late posting of this report ….I expect at this stage you have all read and chatted about this game so adding my perspective to the days events is probably worthless but here is my read anyway.

I think it is fair to say that Clontarf entered this game as underdogs and generated a degree of motivation from that.

The thing is though … underdog motivation can only go so far and generally results in periods of ‘getting stuck in ‘ and other general defiance until the inevitable over dog victory.
On Saturday Clontarf mocked the underdog tag, comprehensively outplayed Con across the full range of phases, and ultimately lost the game because they were impatient in possession and made critical mistakes against a team that lives on opposition errors.

At times in this game the Con players lay around panting for air after ‘Tarf blitzed them left and right and up and down the pitch. It was an outstanding performance, particularly by the pack who were more than a match for their opposition. At no stage in the game did Con look comfortable in their efforts to create; they were hunted all over the park and on numerous occasions were hanging on by the threads on their jerseys.
What was utterly maddening was that for all this endeavour, for all the possession, and for all the territory gained Clontarf failed to spot and exploit the gaps they were creating. And for every opportunity missed, the defence gained confidence and the attack grew impatient ……cue the forced pass and the interceptions

On top of that you can add the critical importance of home advantage. Right on half time Simon Crawford scored after a number of drives close in. The referee was unsighted on the wrong side of the ruck and the linesman was looking for something else.

Those are the decisions that go for you when you are playing at home.

We need to remember that when we are contemplating a slow start to next years campaign.

It was a disappointing end to a strong season. The travelling Clontarf faithful were immense as usual and the intensity of the support for the players, the management and indeed for myself at the end of the game was, frankly, inspiring.

So the plotting and planning for next year has begun and I can assure you all that the appetite for the fight is still strong amongst the players and the management.

I think the day for me was defined by our youngest squad member.

Stephen Quinn is Mick Quinn’s six year old grandson and had been part of the travelling party for about three years now. On match days Stephen travels with the squad and hangs around like a baby elephant amongst the adults; dressed the same but considerably smaller. The guys indulge him because he is bright and articulate. They teach him great adult things like how to shout ‘fuck off’ etc etc and Stephen responds by having the innate wit to realise when to blend in silently......NOT! . He has a special position and despite his young age he knows it. On match days Stephen reigns in the changing room where his duties include distributing water around to the players and being aide de camp to his granddad. Needless to say the trip to Cork on the plane was not going to be complete without him and so he travelled as part of the squad. On the bus journey home he filled the hours acting as a waiter delivering beers and cleaning up empties into plastic bags.
When we arrived outside Castle Avenue there were the usual end of season hugs, goodbyes etc ….. Stephen with the intuition of a six year old realised that there was an air of finality to all this …..so he stood and was hugged in turn and he cried ……

Next season is a lifetime away when your six.

So I will sign off for this season with a simple quote for Stephen, and for all of us, from another sentimental man, Winston Churchill.

‘Never, never, never give up’

See you next year.

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