Still nothing between them

Coolderry and Shamrocks Junior hurlers served up a thrilling Junior B Final replay at St Brendan’s Park last Saturday. Shane Cunningham’s pointed ’65 deep in the 62nd minute sent the match to extra time and Mark Maloney fired over a mighty 76th minute point to send the Final to a second replay.

It’s a tired cliché to say neither side deserved to lose, but this is one occasion when this is apt. On soft ground following heavy rain the day before, and the U16 final taking place immediately beforehand the sides battled manfully. The spontaneous applause afforded by the attendance at the final whistle spoke of the crowd’s appreciation of the efforts of both sides.

With the pride of the parish at stake, this could have been a response to Martin Luther King’s famous address – “if you can’t run, walk, if you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means keep running”. Every man who took the field was a ‘top-man’ who pushed their bodies to the absolute extreme and stretched every sinew to their limits in a bid to win the title.

See this week’s Offaly Expres for full report