Ex-Lilies star Flynn told he couldn’t lift cup but he’d do it all again

LIFTING the Dermot Bourke Cup as Moorefield captain should have been one of the highlights of Daryl Flynn’s career but it also led to him being slapped with one of the more bizarre GAA suspensions. Flynn had to sit out the Leinster quarter-final win over Portlaoise as he received a straight red card in the Kildare SFC final win over Celbridge. But he will also be suspended for the first game in the Kildare championship next year. The GAA rules state that if a captain is sent off in a final, he is not allowed to lift the trophy. However, Flynn’s emotions got the better of him at the end of the county final and he raised it aloft. And he claims that he would do it again. ‘Yeah. Look, if I had to make that decision again, I would lift the cup again. You might never get the chance again in your whole life. Someone told me on the way up that I might get in trouble for this, but I might never get the opportunity again.’ The upshot was that he will also be suspended for Moorefield’s first championship match in Kildare next year, but Flynn says it is worth it. ‘It is a bizarre rule,’ said Flynn (left), who soldiered for Kildare for 12 years before retiring from the inter-county game in 2016. ‘I would have never heard of it until I was just about to go up the steps. ‘I had a choice, but it was strange. What would anyone do if they were playing for their club and they had a chance to lift the cup? I decided I wanted to lift the cup.’ With St Vincent’s being shocked by Rathnew and Portlaoise also out, there is a wide open feel to the Leinster football championship this winter. Moorefield have to go down to Aughrim this weekend to face Rathnew. And while the fabled Wicklow county grounds are considered a tough place to go, Flynn and Moorefield won there four years back. ‘Anyone can win. This Sunday, both games will be 50-50,’ said Flynn. ‘It is good there will be a different name on the cup.’ And if Moorefield do make it all the way to the provincial decider, and win their first Leinster title in 11 years, Flynn won’t let any rule deny him the chance of lifting the cup for his team.