Another night of craic by the Camac, a crowd of over 3,000 paying homage to the greatest SuperSaint of this generation. A delayed kick-off was held off even further when the St. Patrick's players, led out by his son Evin, formed a guard of honour to welcome Oso the Great onto the field.
The first half was contested by the two first team sides and was 1-1 after 45 minutes, Stephen Grant ignoring the script with a goal on 33 for Rovers, equalised by Ger McCarthy just before the break. The Pat's team for the first 45 was, as follows:
Shay Kelly, Trevor Croly (Paul Donnelly 25), Willie Burke, Darragh Maguire, Colm Foley, PAUL OSAM, Paul Marney (Kevin Doyle 25), Robbie McGuinness, Colm Murphy, Ger McCarthy, Liam Kelly.
The halftime break saw a whole host of substitutions on either side and even in the middle, and was marked by the appearance of our victorious schoolboys sides and a series of presentations to Paul Osam, who had earlier been presented with the "Championship-winning jersey" by Club President Tim O'Flaherty. Among the half-time presentations was a framed photo collage on behalf of Independent Saints, presented to Paul by Avril Doyle. The picture appears on our message board (limked on main page of this site) - please do not copy, this took me a frighteningly long time to produce (and by the way I'm indebted to Billy for his patience and help), if you'd like to save it, put it on a website or print it, just drop me an email on the above address.
After the break the chance came from the stars of yesteryear to again shine. The team for the start of the second half was, as follows:
Dave Henderson, Packie Lynch (Stephen McGuinness 65 [Trevor Croly 80]), Keith Doyle, Paul McGrath (PAUL OSAM 80), Damian Byrne, Mick Moody, John Treacy (Thomas Morgan 70), Eddie Gormley, John Byrne (Keith Long 70), Johnny McDonnell (Liam Kelly 80), Mark Ennis
The Rovers side for the second half included the portly Mick Leech, the controversial Noel Hunt and Tony O'Dowd, appearing in outfield. His usual position was filled by Robbie Horgan, who got very much into the spirit of the game by dribbling to the half way lineon one occasion. The man I regard as Ireland's greatest ever footballer appeared for an all-too-brief half hour that was characterised by a few touches of class, a couple of dodgy knees and a stirring welcome from an appreciative crowd. To know that Paul McGrath loves the same club as us is indeed comforting - to see him in the red and white may have been a revisitation to times long gone for the lucky few who saw him first time round - for the rest of us, the chance to sing "Ooo-ahh Paul McGrath" and cheer him for his marshalling of Tony O'Dowd, amongst others, was more than enough! An entertaining Trapper Treacy, a feisty Damian Byrne, a hardened Mick Moody, a balding Johnny Mac - one could be forgiven for thinking the clocks, forwarded an hour last weekend, were this evening turned back again for 45 minutes as we sang of Hagi, cheered on a zippy Mark Ennis, saw Hendo make not one, not two, but three brilliant saves in a clean-sheet performance not too distant from the man who usually occupies the space between the sticks at the famous old ground!
The man who might be argued to be St. Patrick's Athletic's greatest ever footballer reappeared with a quarter of an hour remaining and, true to form, Pat's found their feet again. Mark Ennis beat the offside trap on one of those rare nights when it didn't seem like the officials were against us and slotted the ball between the keepers' legs, to rapturous applause from the Richers faithful. Eddie Gormley, clearly seeking another goal in the red and white of his former and, dare I say it, favourite club, rounded the 'keeper a minute later but inexplicably shot over from six yards in front of an empty goal; instead of looks of horror or disappointment, there were guffaws of laughter at such a sitter being missed. But Eddie was to grab a goal, although by now the Man of the Moment was actively seeking to put his name on the scoresheet, and it was a cross played for Osam from the left that Eddie bulleted home for a relatively rare headed goal. Liam Kelly completed the rout in injury time, almost to his embarrassment, looking to find a way to play in Oso before finally shooting in from 10 yards.
4-1 it finished, and though it may be a cliché, the result really didn't matter. The money raised is deserved by a great servant to St. Pat's and Irish football. Enough has been written by men with greater football knowledge than I, but while Oso will remain with us next season and may have his best yet to come, tonight was my way, our way of saying thanks to someone who's provided us with such pride and joy over the past decade.
OSO OSO, OSO OSO...........................
Full story and Pics from Oriel of how the Saints won the league are now available on this website
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