Sport

Brendan Crossan: City, country - it's all the same when you put the hard yards in

Rossa's Deaglan Murphy led the way against Cushendall last week Picture: Seamus Loughran.
Rossa's Deaglan Murphy led the way against Cushendall last week Picture: Seamus Loughran. Rossa's Deaglan Murphy led the way against Cushendall last week Picture: Seamus Loughran.

ONE of my favourite trips of the year wasn’t watching the All-Ireland hurling final or football final from up in the heavens of Croke Park.

It wasn’t sitting high up in the Aviva Stadium either when Ireland supporters made their long-awaited return to the famous ground.

It was none of these.

It was a trip to Rossa Park in west Belfast on April 12 2021. On a warm Monday evening, it was the first night the padlocks came off the gates and children were allowed to return to play.

Underage coach Kevin Logan invited me to observe the kids’ first session. It was exhilarating to just watch children play together again, listening and trying their absolute best to execute the little drills set up by Kevin’s merry band of coaches.

Irish News photographer Mal McCann surveyed the pitch and surrounding backdrop.

Mal lay flat on the grass and asked the kids to run towards him, some carrying O’Neill’s footballs and the others wearing the widest smiles.

It turned out to be a brilliant image on so many levels. It captured a bunch of Rossa kids in the absolute prime of their childhoods. The image also signalled the resumption of childhoods and the way they were meant to be.

The backdrop to the photograph was spectacular too. The Black Mountain, stoic and imperious as ever, and the houses on higher ground overlooking the pitch.

There was an urban feel to the picture. They say it’s harder to grow Gaelic Games in the city. But, then again, if you have enough nutters you can grow anything, anywhere.

O’Donovan Rossa have their fair share of nutters. You just needed to see them in action back in April investing everything they had in trying to make the kids’ first training session in months the best ever.

City clubs like Rossa, St John’s, St Gall’s and St Paul’s have been planting seeds year upon year with varying results.

No two harvests are the same.

Of course, you also need ambitious, well-funded schemes to reach into non-traditional schools to complement and, in some instances, ignite the process.

That’s why schemes like Gaelfast are just as important if not more important than building a new Casement Park.

The health of Gaelic Games in the city won’t be improved alone by an awesome structure on the Andersonstown Road - but rather how the underbelly is tended to every night of the week in urban clubs.

By nutters, by volunteers with skills sets, by fanatics. Basically, by human cooperatives.

Last Sunday, O’Donovan Rossa hurlers reached their first senior county final since 2004.

Apart from St Gall’s gate-crashing the decider in 2014, the Volunteer Cup has been the preserve of north Antrim.

Dunloy are going for three-in-a-row next month.

Before that, it was effectively a three-way fight for the bragging rights between the Cuchullain’s, Cushendall and Loughgiel Shamrocks.

Between 1990 and 2003, it was a straight two-way shoot-out between Dunloy and Cushendall.

When it came to deciders, Belfast clubs didn’t really count. In recent years, St John’s have hit the bar in semi-finals on so many occasions you would think there was a curse on them.

Rossa have gone through countless rebuilds and even though they swept all before them in the intermediate ranks in 2014/15, they never quite translated that into senior success.

Of course, it’s tempting to say that it’s more difficult to build something in the city – especially with all the distractions and the thriving soccer scene - than it is in a small parish where there is nothing but hurling and more hurling.

I remember speaking to Portaferry stalwart Marty Mallon about why Gaelic football never really took off in the peninsula, and he replied: “The ball wasn’t allowed to get off the boat!”

City clubs can feel sorry for themselves; that they can never be like Loughgiel or Cushendall or Dunloy.

That’s why it was interesting to get the views of Rossa senior hurling manager Colly Murphy about Belfast clubs’ perceived inability to make a real impact on the Antrim Senior Hurling Championship.

He didn’t accept the prevailing narrative that it was easier for rural clubs to be successful. Geography, he said, had little to do with it.

“If you’re not putting the work in you can’t complain,” he said. “How can you knock the likes of Cushendall, Dunloy and Loughgiel?

“In fairness, people could say the same thing about Ballycastle as they haven’t won a title since the mid-80s, St John’s the mid-70s and ourselves 2004. You get what you deserve.

“Loughgiel, Cushendall and Dunloy put the work in. Okay, you need a bit of luck and St John’s and ourselves are hamstrung as we’re senior dual clubs, although it doesn’t seem to affect Dunloy too much. I watched them play football last week and I think they had seven hurlers playing.”

And this is where the nutter mentality comes in and how a couple of coaches managed to hold together the same group of players since they were seven-years-of-age.

Deaglan Murphy, Seaghan Shannon, Adian Orchin, Gerard Walsh, Dara Rocks and Colm McVeigh are just some of the current squad who have come through Rossa's ranks together since U8 under Sean Shannon and Colly Murphy.

That was the genesis of last Sunday’s brilliant semi-final victory over Cushendall – and a strong mentality that they had all the work done.

Although they face another mountain in the October 10 final showdown at Corrigan Park against brilliant champions, this group of O’Donovan Rossa hurlers are living proof you make your own luck in life and that it doesn’t matter where you’re from.