We were so looking forward to Rossies’ visit but we can’t be dwelling on it
EXILES ACE GUTTED LONDON WON’T BE HOSTING CONNACHT CHAMPIONSHIP TIE
GAELIC FOOTBALL
Instead, the Exiles captain sat twiddling his thumbs as the opening fixture of the 2020 football Championship – London v Roscommon in Ruislip – passed without a ball being kicked. It wasn’t that attacker Gavaghan hadn’t captained his county before, it would have been his fourth Championship campaign with the armband. But a precious piece of GAA history would have been made if Gavaghan, from Greenford in west London, and new boss Michael Maher had ran out together. Both are London born and bred and never before have native players captained and managed the team at the same time. Gavaghan told Irish Sunday Mirrorsport: “We were really looking forward to playing Roscommon, it was a huge game that would have brought out all the Gaels over here. “Personally, I find the best way to deal with the situation is to look to the positives. Of course you want to get back on the pitch and have the craic with the lads but maybe a bit of a break will help some guys, clear up a few injuries for others. I don’t really let myself dwell too much on it, it is what it is and I’ll let people make the decisions about when football can or can’t be played. What’s going on around London and Ireland and the world is far more serious.”
The son of a Mayo mum and Sligo father, Gavaghan grew up going to London games and has been representing the county since under-14.
He made his senior debut as an 18-year-old against Mayo in 2011 when James Horan’s first Championship game in charge almost ended in disaster.
The red hot favourites required extra-time that day and eight years later Gavaghan was captain when they gave Galway a fright in 2019, pushing them to within four points.
Roscommon would have posed a similar challenge as champions though Gavaghan was upbeat and optimistic.
Gavaghan said: “We ran Galway close last year and a lot of the lads are still around from that game. The League campaign probably didn’t go as well as we’d have liked but there were a couple of games to go and you always find with London that the later it is in the League, the more the improvement comes. The team had been training really well and there was a nice block of training set out for after the League running into the Roscommon game so I have no doubt we would have been in good shape. It’s just a pity it didn’t happen.”
Unfortunately there’s no guarantees that the fixture will happen in the future either, even if Championship games do go ahead later this year.
Accommodating games in London and New York could be tricky if local authorities are against it and London boss Michael Maher has acknowledged it could yet be an all-island competition.
Gavaghan shrugged: “There isn’t much I can do about that.
“If London are involved we’d be delighted but football is not the top priority in London or in Ireland now.”