Thousandsjourney to Croke Park final
THE Croke Park Hotel, just across the road from the entrance to the stadium, was the Mecca for the patrons of the various teams contesting the finals of the junior and intermediate club championships last Sunday, including the thousands of Charleville people who made the trip to Dublin to see their club’s hurlers bid to make local sporting history in the All-Ireland Intermediate hurling championship.
That they came up short in the end was hugely disappointing, but the team lost nothing of the admiration of their devoted fans for their brilliant successes over the past year in winning the County Premier Intermediate championship, the Munster championship, the All-Ireland semi-final and the contesting the All-Ireland final in Croke Park, and, most of all, gaining access to senior hurling status.
The two red cards issued in the second half did not help their cause, but even with 13 men they showed their fighting spirit and were only beaten in extra time by their full-strength opponents, the Connaught champions, Oranmore-Maree.
The Charleville team has given wonderful entertainment and a huge lift to the town and locality with their displays throughout the year, and the players can only learn from this losing experience, which will surely spur them on to bigger and better things when they contest the county senior championship in the coming season.
This is not the last you’ve seen of this young Charleville side and, perhaps, the best is yet to come.