Recap

Match Report by: Niamh Devaney.

The Match of the Forgotten Gear
St. Henri Harps got off to a quick start with a goal by captain Laura Brody after which followed several scoreless, though intense, minutes. Cu Chulainn and the Harps battled it out, hitting a few wides before they both hit their stride almost simultaneously with Michael Brophy sending one over for the Cu and Patrick Burke answering it with his own point on the next play. All the while a brave Saraid McCarrick was doing all she could for her side, racing in her car (at the speed limit and no more) to collect the helmet bag from God knows where, as three of her teammates stood on the side-lines in Vanier bareheaded and itching to get their sweaty chins on!
Meanwhile the Cu were firing on all cylinders with a soft goal from Jenn Dumais (an unlucky moment for goalie Michael Johnson in an otherwise solid performance) and then another by Conall Mac Cionnaith, PSC MVP. A chop from a player that I’ve conveniently forgotten resulted in a free for the Harps, taken by Paddy Burke. The Limerick man stepped up and hit a perfect ball but was denied by an amazing save from Marty Burke to ‘Ooooohs’ from the side-lines. This was made all the sweeter by Sideline Mick putting his signature mark on the scoresheet soon afterwards. The Mighty Marty then gave away another free with a tough tackle but made up for it with yet another “how did he manage that?” save. The first half was rounded off with a nice goal from Thomas Dayon. PSC were up (4-6) to (1-3).
During the third quarter the Harps managed to close the gap to 3 points. This was undoubtably helped by the arrival of McCarrick and the spare helmets! The team seriously turned up the intensity as MVP on the day, Olivier Daoust even managed to split his hurl in his efforts to win the ball. One-Time-Only-Super-Sligonian-Sub, Enda Kivlehan was no Wandering Aengus as he played his heart’s desire out, flying through the air to block a Cu Chulainn shot as if protecting the Sally Gardens itself! How the Harps wish he could be their Stolen Child!
Could it be panic setting in on the PSC side as a desperate Dave Morrow illegally dived on the sliothar to prevent a Harps goal? This wrong was immediately righted by Paddy Burke’s zinger of a penalty. And just when it looked like the Harps might steal this one away from the league’s leaders, the Cu’s top scorers broke out some goals of their own with one kicked in by the boot of, you guessed it, Dumais! And yet another by Mac Cionnaith. The Harps managed to get one back themselves with a messy and disputed kafuffle on the PSC goal line. There were bodies down everywhere and others with arms in the air either in celebration or appeal to the poor Referee, Neil O’Brien, who trusted the word of his umpires and awarded the goal to Loris Langlois. And who wouldn’t believe in umpires who put so much effort into their majestic flag waving!? A beautiful display altogether by Audrey Taillefer, Jim Foley, Claire Lubell, and Michelle Lee.
It still looked possible for the Harps with Paul Ryan in particular leaving absolutely everything on the field but the impressive and relentless Cu Chulainn found another couple of points in them at the death to take yet another win. Congratulations to PSC and their newest player, Cian D’Arcy, who made his debut.
One is left wondering about that helmet bag though and how big an impact its late arrival had…
Final score – PSC Cu Chulainn (6-8) St Henri Harps (5-8)