Cold and wet conditions were not enough to stop the greatest grudge match in intra-college football from going ahead. Despite some “flaws” as TN would call them, in the headline, the truth is the University Times Galacticos did indeed win both moral and technical victories against the old enemy across the hall. Bitter to claim a technical victory? Perhaps. Correct? Of course.
The tradition of bringing in ‘ringers’ for the RAG Week charity match is one that has been widely practiced for the last number of years. This year saw TN bring in a real ace, Gus Shaw Stewart, of DUAFC fame, confirming TN captain, Cal Gray’s, persona as a truly crafty man. Trinity News were similarly alarmed when UT showed up with a squad of players who were all regular writers.
UT made the best of the situation despite a number of adverse factors. Weather conditions and gross unfitness were the main hindrances. That and the fact that our jerseys arrived an hour after the match finished. Not great. Not a shining moment for the Galacticos.
UT raced into an early lead with a number of dynamic moves and clever finishes. Ross “The Don” Mullen made the best inroads pounding in some early goals, and setting the trend for a personal high scoring performance. Despite a positive start, TN began to reel in their counterparts, as the game became tit-for-tat.
Goals began to flow for both sides. Mullen, midfield dynamo Carl Kinsella, Cathal “Gary Doherty” Groome and defensive-goalkeeping-striking-midfielder Colm O’Donnell chipped in with strikes for the Galacticos, while Niall Brehon, Cal Gray and Billy Nash, among others landed scores for Trinity News-castle United. Shaw Stewart bamboozled on occasion and Will Foley and Louis Strange made some neat moves on the wings. John Kennedy was solid in defence for TN, but he certainly didn’t possess the Roy Keane-esque shin-hacking abilities of UT’s squad.
The half drew to a close thanks to some dodgy timekeeping from innocent bystander, Johanna Clancy. The cry for half-time arrived right as Strange was through on goal, leaving the TN man, mildly frustrated. It left the score 9-8 to Trinity News.
The game also contained some hard challenges, in particular from UT’s ‘Bash Brothers’, Cathal Groome and paper boy Jack Danaher. Both captains went flying at one point or another and O’Donnell took a particularly bad blow to the knee after slipping into a two-footed tackle. Quite unfortunate. Perhaps the most hilarious incident occurred when paper boy Jack Danaher attempted to slide tackle the opposition but ultimately upended his captain, Conor Bates. Hilarity ensued. There were some problems in this regard, as the referee did not make their presence felt strongly enough. That is to say, there was no referee.
As the game recommenced, Mullen again launched into action for UT, restoring parity to the scoreboard. As UT tired, TN began to take advantage, and push forward for more goals. The standard dropped as Trinity News began to pull away, establishing a four goal lead for the most part. Leanna Byrne made a more prominent return to the fold in the second half, at her natural position of goalkeeper. Previously, Byrne had earned the nickname “27”, after conceding as many goals in one match. But not this year. This time around she kept it in a respectable single figures. Paper boy Jack Danaher also pulled off some octopus-like saves. Even in the face of a spirited University Times rebuttal, Trinity News established themselves in the second half. Conor Bates was nutmegged by anyone who came near him and Gus Shaw Stewart ‘elastico’d’ Cathal Groome.
20-15 at the final whistle. What does that really mean? Not much. I mean, we didn’t lose as such. Is football really measured in goals scored? Yes, but we still felt like we won. Also, technically TN broke the rules by not playing athletes of both sex, which as we all know, is rule one for charity football. But we’re not bitter. We have a moral victory and a technical victory, compared to their actual victory. 2-1 to UT, really. After the match, team captain, Conor Bates spoke to the University Times, i.e. himself. “Damn you, Cal”, he said, “Damn you, for another year.”
The match also raised some important money, in conjunction with RAG Week.
Photo by Andrew Murphy
