It was a great weekend for Whitehall Colmcille in Dublin.
The club won its first under-21 title in three years after beating St. Jude’s by nine points in the B final.
It was an impressive performance by the north Dublin side as they raced to a seven-point lead at halftime and two goals in the second period meant that Whitehall eventually ran out winners on a scoreline of 2-15 to 0-12.
The victory didn’t go unnoticed with Cathal ‘The Bull’ Ryan making SportsJOE’s GAA team of the weekend.
With the 15 men on the pitch kitted out in the white and red of their club, the 30 or so on the line were donning their new club tracksuit tops.
The club covered the cost of the new gear but, as a gesture of gratitude, Whitehall’s coach Cormac Ryan decided to do a whip-around all in the name of charity.
Cormac Ryan is an impressive young man who fought back from depression and heart problems #GAA https://t.co/yIHSPH7CmC
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) May 4, 2017
“Fortunately, we were put in the position that the cost of the club tops for the final as well as sorting the lads out for a drink after were covered by the club so I just thought it’d be a nice gesture to get the lads to pool together some money and donate it to a charity of their choice,” Cormac told SportsJOE
“I suppose there was more to it than being a ‘nice gesture’. The motto of the team was to have honesty and modesty in everything we do and with it being the week of the final it was also a good way to keep the lads honest to themselves.
“Throughout the past month and a half we’ve constantly spoken about the bigger picture and how this was all about enjoyment and camaraderie and all the boys really bought into that. We knew that this championship and this final was important to every single one of us but, at the end of the day, it’s not the be all and end all.
“Given how fortunate we were to be in the position of heading into a county final and being well looked after it was a chance to keep the lads grounded and give back those in a less fortunate position than us.”
It was up to the team as a collective to vote on what charity they’d donate to and unanimously decided to give the €225 raised to Pieta House after news of a fellow under-21 player in Dublin dying by suicide.
“Despite having an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ side in under-21’s this year, this was one team. Every lad togged for the final and everyone was included in the vote. Everyone that voted decided the money would be best served for Pieta House and I couldn’t have been happier with their decision.”
If you need someone to talk to talk to you can ring Samaritans on 116 123 and you can visit the Pieta House website here.
