the players, while Mick sat Danny down near the training bag to have another look at his eye.
Heffo kept jumping up on Danny’s lap and licking his face.
‘Get off Heffo, ya mad thing ya,’ Danny said with a laugh.
Trinity popped her head around a couple of players beside Danny.
‘Would you like me to take him?’ she asked, smiling. ‘Oooh! That looks nasty.’
Danny lowered his head.
‘Lift your head, son,’ Mick complained; he was trying to hold an ice pack up to Danny’s face.
Trinity slipped away.
‘That wasn’t very nice,’ Mick said.
‘I don’t know why she bothered to come to the game.’
Mick wasn’t going to take that conversation any further. He had a team to organise and a second half to get on with.
***
Danny had a little look around for Trinity as the referee blew his whistle for the second half. He felt bad for being rude to her; then he put her out of his mind. He would talk to her at the end of the game and try and sort things out.
Danny jumped for the second half throw in and beat Deco Savage to it. He fisted it over to Jonathon who immediately kicked a long pass up field before Dempsey could challenge him.
There was a battle in the Barnfield defence for the first few minutes of the second half which resulted in the Barnfield left half back fouling Jason Delaney, the Crokes number thirteen.
Danny stepped up to take the free kick and he sent it straight over the bar for a point.
That brought the score to 1-3 to 0-3 in favour of Barnfield.
The match had turned into a great contest of determination and bravery on the part of both teams. Neither wanted to admit defeat and the rivalry between the clubs was greater than ever. Barnfield had beaten the Crokes early in the season on their own pitch, but the Crokes had beaten them in the semi finals of the Féile during the summer. This was almost the seasonal decider. Victors today would be second best in the under-fourteen’s division 1, but that was becoming part of local GAA history and would be reported in the sports column in the following day’s local gazette as ‘The Battle of Littlestown!’
***
There were only five minutes on the clock and Barnfield and the Crokes had both added two more points each.
The score was 1-5 to 0-5 in favour of Barnfield. Everything was going to plan for the away team.
But Danny wasn’t going to give in too easily and he was making his own plans to change that score.
Danny had dropped back into his own half to pick up a long pass from Karl O’Toole, the Crokes’ left half back.
Danny beckoned Jonathon in towards him and little did Jonathon realise as he ran closer to his cousin that he would be involved in one of the best GAA moves his team had ever pulled off.
Danny fisted the ball over Sean Dempsey’s head and into the hands of Jonathon.
Jonathon looked up and kicked out to Brian O’Reilly, the Crokes’ left half forward. Brian dropped the ball, but with the Barnfield right half back chomping on his heels, the Crokes’ number twelve regained his composure and made a perfect pick up.
He turned and looked out to his right and spotted Jonathon, who had moved into a free space.
The Crokes’ left half forward hand passed the ball to Jonathon, who then hand passed to Danny who was running along side him.
The ball had made its way back to Danny and he was going to do something wonderful with it.
Danny powered forward. Clara’s nickname was in the front of his mind – Tiger Boots. Danny felt like a tiger and the pitch was his territory. He was about to move in for the kill!
His solo brought him right into the heart of the Barnfield defence. The Barnfield centre half back thought Danny was going to shoot for a point so he jumped in the air with both hands above his head.
BIG MISTAKE!
Danny tricked him and stepped to his right, then fisted a pass out to Jason Delaney, his right full forward.
Delaney returned the pass to Danny, slipping the ball past the Barnfield full
Heffo kept jumping up on Danny’s lap and licking his face.
‘Get off Heffo, ya mad thing ya,’ Danny said with a laugh.
Trinity popped her head around a couple of players beside Danny.
‘Would you like me to take him?’ she asked, smiling. ‘Oooh! That looks nasty.’
Danny lowered his head.
‘Lift your head, son,’ Mick complained; he was trying to hold an ice pack up to Danny’s face.
Trinity slipped away.
‘That wasn’t very nice,’ Mick said.
‘I don’t know why she bothered to come to the game.’
Mick wasn’t going to take that conversation any further. He had a team to organise and a second half to get on with.
***
Danny had a little look around for Trinity as the referee blew his whistle for the second half. He felt bad for being rude to her; then he put her out of his mind. He would talk to her at the end of the game and try and sort things out.
Danny jumped for the second half throw in and beat Deco Savage to it. He fisted it over to Jonathon who immediately kicked a long pass up field before Dempsey could challenge him.
There was a battle in the Barnfield defence for the first few minutes of the second half which resulted in the Barnfield left half back fouling Jason Delaney, the Crokes number thirteen.
Danny stepped up to take the free kick and he sent it straight over the bar for a point.
That brought the score to 1-3 to 0-3 in favour of Barnfield.
The match had turned into a great contest of determination and bravery on the part of both teams. Neither wanted to admit defeat and the rivalry between the clubs was greater than ever. Barnfield had beaten the Crokes early in the season on their own pitch, but the Crokes had beaten them in the semi finals of the Féile during the summer. This was almost the seasonal decider. Victors today would be second best in the under-fourteen’s division 1, but that was becoming part of local GAA history and would be reported in the sports column in the following day’s local gazette as ‘The Battle of Littlestown!’
***
There were only five minutes on the clock and Barnfield and the Crokes had both added two more points each.
The score was 1-5 to 0-5 in favour of Barnfield. Everything was going to plan for the away team.
But Danny wasn’t going to give in too easily and he was making his own plans to change that score.
Danny had dropped back into his own half to pick up a long pass from Karl O’Toole, the Crokes’ left half back.
Danny beckoned Jonathon in towards him and little did Jonathon realise as he ran closer to his cousin that he would be involved in one of the best GAA moves his team had ever pulled off.
Danny fisted the ball over Sean Dempsey’s head and into the hands of Jonathon.
Jonathon looked up and kicked out to Brian O’Reilly, the Crokes’ left half forward. Brian dropped the ball, but with the Barnfield right half back chomping on his heels, the Crokes’ number twelve regained his composure and made a perfect pick up.
He turned and looked out to his right and spotted Jonathon, who had moved into a free space.
The Crokes’ left half forward hand passed the ball to Jonathon, who then hand passed to Danny who was running along side him.
The ball had made its way back to Danny and he was going to do something wonderful with it.
Danny powered forward. Clara’s nickname was in the front of his mind – Tiger Boots. Danny felt like a tiger and the pitch was his territory. He was about to move in for the kill!
His solo brought him right into the heart of the Barnfield defence. The Barnfield centre half back thought Danny was going to shoot for a point so he jumped in the air with both hands above his head.
BIG MISTAKE!
Danny tricked him and stepped to his right, then fisted a pass out to Jason Delaney, his right full forward.
Delaney returned the pass to Danny, slipping the ball past the Barnfield full
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