The cheeky feckers.
Sometimes, people will do whatever necessary to help your team win a game. That can be cynical fouling, it could be throwing a GPS tracker at someone but it’s usually just appealing a perfectly valid suspension. And winning.
Any little advantage is a good advantage.
Castlebar Mitchels felts aggrieved on Sunday ahead of their Connacht final in Tuam against local side Corofin. The management team was left arguing with stewards who wouldn’t open the gates for the Mayo natives to run onto the field.
Now this is a big rivalry, it’s more than a Connacht final. They’re two of the best sides in the province and have been over the last four years with Castlebar winning the Connacht title in 2013 and 2015 and Corofin lifting the trophy in 2014 and 2016.
There’s nothing between them.
There is, however, a gate between Mitchels and the field.
As Castlebar took to the pitch, the stewards opted to keep the gates closed – presumably under instruction, perhaps it was too early for the Mayo outfit to take the field. It didn’t stop them though and the players had to hop the wall to get to the pitch instead.
Bí cúramach! Santy might be watching. @GAA_BEO @CorofinGAA @MitchelsGaa #connachtgaa #thetoughest pic.twitter.com/HberclCT6f
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) November 26, 2017
Conveniently enough for Corofin, the gate was open in all its glory as their players made their way to the pitch hassle free.
Poor Castlebar, it wasn’t for the lack of trying either as their manager, Declan O’Reilly appealed with officials to open the gate so he could get on the pitch and not have to jump a wall.
It didn’t get into Castlebar players’ heads though Aidan Walsh scored a goal for the side at the start of the game as they raced to a three-point lead.
But that wasn’t the only drama as the national anthems were cancelled in Tuam Stadium.
Have you ever seen the likes?
