Ed bows out on high

NOT EVERY sporting career ends in a fairytale, so it’s nice to record a genuinely good news story when we hear one. Monageer-Boolavogue became the first club to capture the Junior ‘A’ hurling championship title - inaugurated in 2003 - for a second time on Saturday week when they beat Cloughbawn by 1-12 to 1-4 in New Ross, adding to their success in 2012 when near neighbours Oulart-The Ballagh were their victims.

Ed Rowsome played a part in both wins, and he was one of the happiest men in O’Kennedy Park when the final whistle sounded this time around.

Now 42 years of age, he was introduced with three minutes left and became the fourth Monageer-Boolavogue substitute to grab a score just 60 seconds later, picking off a point from a Colm O’Loughlin handpass.

An elated Ed has now announced his retirement from the game he adores, 31 years after winning his first county medal as a keen youngster.

The Junior ‘A’ victory was his 15th, and we want to share the words of a text he sent to us here at the newspaper in the course of trying to locate the photographer for the game.

‘I’ve lived it and loved it....I’ve had a ball.’ What an absolutely wonderful summation of a lifetime of service to a club he holds dear.

Happy retirement Ed, and thanks for all the great memories.