Eye witness account of dark football days
Michael 'Babs' Keating.
One of the first matches I attended that I could, at a remove of over half a century, put a definite date on is the 1970 National Football League meeting of Carlow and Clare.
The McGough family happened to be down in Inagh, County Clare for the weekend visiting relations. I have a notion the game might have been originally fixed for Milltown-Malbay but was moved to the seaside resort of Lahinch.
We had often been in Lahinch during long, hot Summers, the place packed with holiday makers enjoying sun, sea and sand, but Lahinch in November was a far cry from that inviting place; the bracing sea breeze coming in off the Atlantic ensuring you’d want to be well wrapped up.
Just ten years old at the time, I have only a few memories of proceedings that day. Standing at the wall behind the goal close to the gate where the teams ran out on to the playing field, I recall the Clare natives being particularly struck by the colour of the Carlow jerseys.
It was, of course, still red, yellow and green back then but the design was green with red shoulders (similar to the old Wexford design) and yellow cuffs and collars.
The home support, sparse enough in number with the visitors virtually non-existent, were also taken by the size of the Carlow goalkeeper. He was small alright while the Carlow free-takers’ bald features also came in for mention.
Clare, at that time, wore an all blue jersey with saffron cuffs and collars. The home side won well that day, but it was not until I consulted the archives recently that I realised the extent of their victory, as well as confirming the identity of the Carlow goalkeeper and free-taker.
The goalkeeper was George Coleman of Kildavin and my memories of him making some fantastic saves was confirmed by the match report of the game which stated he “saved his side from a much heavier defeat.”
As it was that defeat stood at 2-12 to 0-3, Peter Roberts, also of Kildavin, the 1970 county champions, scoring all three points from placed balls. He lined out on 41 competitive occasions with the county senior footballers between 1959 and 1971, the majority at right half back but when in the veteran stage operated to effect in attack and had the unusual distinction of accounting for all of Carlow’s scores in TWO consecutive NFL games, which as it transpires were the first two Carlow matches I attended.
Firstly, the presence of star hurler Michael ‘Babs’ Keating on the Tipp team, taking up residence on the concrete seating beside the ‘outside pitch’ goal to get a close look at the man who had already gained legendary status and who a year later was to enter GAA folklore when finishing the 1971 All-Ireland hurling final in his barefeet. Babs scored 1-4 in Carlow that day including a left footed pile-driver.
The other reason was ‘The Nationalist’ match report the following week which opened along the lines “the scoreline on this report should be altered to Tipperary 2-15, Peter Roberts 0-5”, a kind of super hero performance that appealed to a young mind.
Mind you, I must admit until consulting the archives, I had thought it was Seán King who kicked those five points against Tipperary. Strange the way memories can play tricks with you.
Peter Roberts it was who kicked the five points, again all from placed balls, as were his three in Lahinch. Those back-to-backs defeats witnessed by your scribe and lit up by Peter Roberts defiance are but two pieces in the sad jig-saw that is Carlow’s record run of defeats that extends to a sobering 17-in-a-row.
The day before Carlow played Tipperary in the County Grounds in the October of 1970, Leeds United played Manchester United in Elland Road in the English First Division. 50,000 witnessed a two-all draw in a game which saw the Charlton brothers in opposition - big Jack, later an Irish folk-hero, with Leeds; Bobby, who played a few games in the League of Ireland, in United Red.
Not only did the brothers oppose each other, both scored! Jack put Leeds one-up when heading home from a corner early doors, as he might have said himself. It was a goal of a controversial nature as the United defenders claimed they heard a referees’ whistle but it was actually blown by a home supporter in the crowd.
The referee and Jack Charlton were again centre stage in the second half, the Leeds defender booked (there were no cards back then) when a high probing delivery from Bobby Charlton’ was destined to land at the feet of the George Best only for Jack to jump and catch the ball!
Bobby, though had the last laugh, when his goal five minutes, from time, the 199th of his club career and a new United record, earned the visitors a draw.
‘Gaelic Sport’ was a gem of a magazine that was a huge advocate of the dual player and paraded ‘Babs’ Keating as a perfect example of a man who could play both codes.
‘Score ‘n’ Roar’ was a English comic that featured the fictional adventures of Jack of United and Jimmy of City, Jack a tough tackling defender with Castleburn United, his younger brother Jimmy a prolific striker with arch rivals Castleburn City.
Now here in real life were the Charlton brothers replicating and maybe even surpassing the deeds of the dynamic comic-book duo.
Carlow had beaten Wicklow in the opening round of the 1969 Leinster SFC, then drew with Wexford before losing the replay 2-9 to 2-7 in Croke Park. That was defeat No 1.
The 1969-70 NFL saw Carlow, before Christmas, lose to Kildare (2-11 to 1-9 in Naas), Limerick (3-4 to 0-9 in Dr Cullen Park) and Roscommon (2-16 to 0-4 in Roscommon); before in the Spring of 1970 a Supplementary NFL brought losses to Cork (0-17 to 2-6 in Dr Cullen Park) and Tipperary (2-10 to 0-6 in Templemore).
A 1970 O’Byrne Cup exit to Wexford in Gorey (2-9 to 1-7) was followed by a 1970 Leinster SFC exit to Meath in Newbridge (1-17 to 1-4), the run of defeats now at 8, those aforementioned Tipperary and Clare defeats bringing the run into double figures.
A fortnight after Lahinch, Carlow host Kilkenny in Dr Cullen Park and surely at long last (three games is a eternity to a 10 year-old) I was going to see Carlow win a game?! If there was a game.
You might be thinking hurling-orientated Kilkenny were struggling to field a team? No. The black-and-amber were out on the field, ready to play.
The whispers are Carlow haven’t fifteen. Eventually, ten minutes after the scheduled throw-in time, a few Carlow players emerge from the tunnel. Two men who came to watch the match went in to the dressing room and emerged in borrowed gear.
One was long time regular Joe Gorman, who started. The other was another long time regular, Brendan Hayden, who came on as a sub and scored Carlow’s two goals, one from a 14-yard free, the other from a penalty. Both were in the last quarter but not enough to save Carlow from 1-8 to 2-4 defeat.
The next two games were away, losing 1-16 to 2-6 in Enniscorthy before journeying to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick for the last round, beaten 3-6 to 2-0, failing to raise a single white flag.
