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Senior Footballers Suffer Relegation Heart Break Losing to St Vincents - Tue, 1 Dec 2009

St Brigids 0-2 St Vincents 2-13

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NOT a day to be taking notes, but there was so many of them to take. Absolutely atrocious conditions at Russell Park yesterday morning for the big AFL Division 1 Relegation Championship clash between two of the Dublin heavyweights. Remarkably, St Brigid's finished with ten men. When was the last time a team in Dublin had five players sent off? Yet it was never nasty or ugly. Just one of those days when the parking tickets just seemed to mount up and the clampers were out in force. Brian O'Shea, the County final referee, was the central figure in the drama. In the first half, he issued red cards to Kevin Bonner and Jason Ward.

After half-time, Barry Cahill, Mick Galvin and Declan Lally also walked. Two of the dismissals were straight red, Bonner and Ward. The Ward incident was the most controversial of the lot. Bonner had been sent off very early in the contest (second minute) and Ward followed him just before the interval. It was a most unusual incident. Play was in midfield. O'Shea gave Vincent's a free. Amid a cluster of players, O'Shea darted off to take up his position. Suddenly he found himself on the ground. Immediately he went for the red card. He felt he had been tripped. Ward protested strongly, arguing that it was a totally accidental collision. Brigid's had been playing against the wind. They were 1-6 to 0-0 down. The odds against them had increased ten-fold.

Ten minutes into the second period, Cahill received his second yellow. And five minutes after that, Galvin was also ordered from the action. Not surprisingly, the steam had long gone out of the kettle at this stage. The script changed for good when Ward walked. Late on, Lally picked up his second yellow. By then everyone was wishing hard for the last whistle. A small crowd huddled for shelter on the terrace. "Are we mad," said one voice. The rain and the wind lashed down the pitch from the garage end. There was also a bite in the climate. Had it not been for Kevin Kilmurray's field of dreams, the game wouldn't have gone ahead.

But now Brigid's find themselves in Division 2 where the club will have two teams next term (their second team were defeated by Parnells in their Division 2 promotion semi-final last Thursday night). Memories of their Senior Championship clash a couple of seasons ago. It was a good few years since the top Brigid's team were relegated. And it's the same for the 2007 All-Ireland champions. Relief was the emotion coming from their dressing-room as the players were grateful to step under the hot showers. Sending-offs aside, this was a solid show from the Marino men. They made good use of the elements to have 1-7 to 0-0 in the kitty at the break.

And Vins could have been more ahead had it not been for the excellence of goalkeeper, Shane Supple. He looks every inch the quality 'keeper and no doubt Pat Gilroy and his backroom staff will have been cheered by the news that he has turned down offers from Bohemians to reignite his soccer career. But not even the former Ipswich Town man could prevent the first goal in the fifth minute - A Mossy Quinn Special. How many of these type of goals has Magical Mossy scored over the years? The long, high delivery is coming in from the left. Mossy, lurking on the right, shows the patience of a poker player. Then, in a flash, he gains a precious yard behind the defender, collects the ball and lets fly to the top left hand corner. It was difficult for Brigid's to get over the halfway line in the gale.

Hugh Coughlan and Kevin Golden were winning good possession. It was all Vincent's, and Ger Brennan could afford the luxury of popping forward and landing a trademark point. With the hosts down to 13 men, the advantage of the breeze was never going to be as significant, and when Golden and Coughlan sent over the first two points of the resumption, and Tiernan Diamond rattled in the second goal, the day was done. Of course there was still the small print to go through. And it included Diarmuid Connolly getting injured and worryingly having to leave the field on a stretcher. In the warmth of the Brigid's Bar afterwards, the five sending-offs dominated the chat. But in the coming weeks and months, the priority will be to get back to the top Division. .

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