Only a game of such craziness could conjure up such dramatic sub-plots.
It’s really hard to encapsulate with mere words what Moorefield did on Sunday and how on earth they came away from Portlaoise with a Leinster title.
With two minutes left on the clock, they were six points down. Six points. All St. Loman’s had to do was see it out, foul the opposition, slow it up and take the sting out of the play. All they had to do was score once more and that would’ve been that too.
But a comeback beyond the most far-fetched of fairytales took a grip of proceedings as six points became five and five became two and, suddenly, there was a game to be won.
Even then though, even two points to the good in injury time, the Westmeath outfit should’ve been comfortable. A strict policy of ‘no goals’ would usually see a side over the line from that position but, somehow, from somewhere, Moorefield managed three points instead and they stole the provincial gong from right beneath the noses of Loman’s.
Couldn't make it to yesterday's @AIB_GAA​ @gaaleinster Club SFC Final? Catch the full-time highlights here as @MoorefieldGaa meet @StLomansGAAClub in O'Moore Park! pic.twitter.com/1z9ann1IYS
— The GAA (@officialgaa) December 18, 2017
It really was a special finale to a special second half that saw the Kildare champions barge their way into the last four of the All-Ireland series when they looked like toast with 58 minutes gone.
You read through some of the match reports sent out on the whistle and it’s clear that the journalists had all been planning for a Loman’s win. There’s detail aplenty, play by play updates, on what hindsight now deems as irrelevant passages from earlier in the game. The tone is wrapping up early because it seemed like Heslin and co were coasting home and, then, they have to add a line or two – Moorefield came from nowhere and won in the end, that sort of thing, the sort that doesn’t do it justice at all. They simply didn’t have time amend or head space to make sense of a few crazy minutes which saw 1-4 without reply win the Leinster championship.
We all got caught.
Oh shit…
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) December 17, 2017
Then, the rural myths start, probably true – or some of them at least.
Such and such’s mother sent a text to a mother of one of the Loman’s player to congratulate her and her son on the victory. It was only later that night that they had to get back in touch to apologise and explain that they thought the game was over.
These are only the sort of stories that could come out of Ireland and the sort that could only come out from a freak finish to a freak game.
Some people started loosely accusing Loman’s players of patting each other on the back – probably the most hard to believe of the lot, sort of like Armagh fans just minutes after the All-Ireland final in 2002 making up rumours that Paidi Ó Sé had told the Kerry team at half time that they might as well go home now, the game was already won. It’s nonsense and, whether Loman’s took their foot off the gas or not, it’s hard to believe that any of them would be visibly celebrating whilst the game was still going.
Their supporters were said to be on the pitch ready to storm on at the final whistle.
The Leinster council was said to have ribbons on the cup in blue and white for Loman’s.
Most of it is just embellished, a lot of it is plain lies but it’s all used to just try and encapsulate in any way the magnitude of what happened. The Irish are the best of storytellers and perhaps a lot of that is down to taking liberties with the truth.
But when a generational game like this unfolds out of absolutely nowhere, no-one would believe the truth anyway. And only the exaggerations can really do it all justice
