O’Kelly-Lynch plays for his country and then flies back for county final
SUNDAY’S defeat to Coolera/Strandhill served as a disappointing end to a whirlwind five days for dual star Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch.
The midfielder played his role in Naomh Eoin’s semi-final defeat of reigning champions Calry/St Joseph’s on Wednesday last, before travelling to Inverness in Scotland the following day to represent Ireland in the shinty international.
Having featured in Saturday’s 14-12 defeat to the Scots, O’Kelly-Lynch was then back on a flight to Dublin on that evening, arriving in Sligo late at night.
The ideal end to a busy couple of days would have been a first ever senior hurling winners’ medal. But it wasn’t to be for O’Kelly-Lynch as, despite Naomh Eoin’s superb start to the game, Coolera managed to turn the game on its head, running out 12 point winners.
“The breeze was very hard to play against in the second half”, Gerard conceded. “We found it hard to get the scores or even get the ball up the field.
“We started well but they got those few scores towards the end of the half and they pushed on from there.”
O’Kelly-Lynch ended the game top scorer with a personal tally of 1-7, but even that wasn’t enough to stop a rampant Coolera in the second period.
“We’re usually a second half team”, he continued.
“Very much so in the last few years. Ideally you’d need to be a few scores up in the second half in order to hold out. But a few more scores before half-time would have made the second half a bit easier.”
Looking back on a hectic end to the week and his international cap, the Lory Meagher Cup winner reflected: “It’s not the first busy few days I’ve had. Ideally, a few more days, even a week’s recovery would have been ideal.
“But it was nice to play with Ireland and with players from traditionally stronger hurling counties.
“It was similar to today in that there was a very strong breeze. It’s a smaller ball too and it caught in the breeze very easily. It was really a game of two halves. They only got two points in the first half and we only got two in the second.
“But it was a privilege to get the chance to go over there and hopefully I’ll get the chance to do it again. Just without the game the next day!”
IT IS NOT THE FIRST BUSY FEW DAYS I’VE HAD BUT IT WAS NICE TO PLAY WITH IRELAND AND WITH PLAYERS FROM TRADITIONALLY STRONGER HURLING COUNTIES