A really profound win
BRAY EMMETS captain Marc Lennon and his father Barry shared a warm embrace after the final whistle. Both had tears in their eyes. It was a lovely moment, and not a word was said. No words were needed.
Lennon played a massive role in his side’s victory, dropping out to midfield, hunting and foraging, thwarting, supplying. He left it all on the pitch.
Speaking to him after the game there was a trembling in his voice, this win was more than just a hurling title for him, there was something far more profound at the heart of this for the Bray stalwart. It turns out that Sunday was the birthday of a former close friend and coach of Marc’s who passed away only a short few years ago.
‘One of my coaches in basketball, Gavin Holmes, it’s actually his birthday today, he committed suicide a few years ago. So just seeing that this morning brought up a few emotions, just seeing the name, I was his right-hand man with the club team, it’s just great to do it for him. He coached me in Raiders Bastketball Club, I used to play when I was younger, all the way up through Pres. He was the club coach and I helped him out with a few teams. He was a great lad, he was sound out, and someone I looked up to,’ said Marc.
The former county Minor winning hurler said that his side had now answered the questions asked about them after losing out in the semi-final last season.
‘A great team performance, we started off very well. They actually decided to play against the wind. We got a nice quick start, tapped over our points, and then that goal before half-time, Podge Doyle got it, gave us serious momentum.
‘The second half we started off very poorly, but like the Pat’s came we handled it fairly well. They were always going to come back, serious team, serious players, the likes of ‘Bosco’, Wayne O’Gorman coming on there. We’re just delighted to win this.
‘It’s just great that we answered the questions that were asked of us. People questioned did we have the heart, did we have the hunger, and we showed that in the Pat’s game in spades in the last few minutes, and today as well when we were able to keep the foot on the throat.
‘They obviously had their purple patch, but we were able keep that, and then ‘Jackie’ getting sent off didn’t help. But like I said we’ve a serious squad, we didn’t start Eoin McCormack, county star, been playing for them most of the year, and then Davy Maloney came on, Cathal Ó Dualachain came on, Dara Lohan, like these are all household names in Bray and they just came in, played their part. It’s amazing,’ he said.