Ted O’Gorman, a transition year student in St Brendan’s College, had a rare opportunity to referee a game – and score a goal – in Croke Park when he accompanied the Fossa club’s under 12s to compete in a blitz at headquarters. This is his account of the big day
Fossa GAA Club’s under 12 team embarked on a real fairytale journey to GAA headquarters and, in doing so, they were following in the footsteps of some of their heroes on the Fossa senior team who made that trip, so successfully, when winning the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship just four months earlier.
What had seemed like an unimaginable dream was becoming a reality and not even a 7.30am start last Wednesday could curb the enthusiasm.
The three hour and 40-minute drive went by like a flash with songs, laughter, chat and general excitement shortening the journey, even if the nerves were starting to set in as the travelling party approached the iconic Jones’s Road and the vast colosseum came into sight.
Entering the stadium of dreams, the excitement mounted as the Fossa contingent scaled the steps of the Cusack Stand with the awesome sight of 145-metre-long pitch unfolding before their eyes.
Soon it was time for action as the dreams of these young boys were about to be realised as they raced on to the carpet-like field, took the first step over the white line and held their collective breath to treasure the moment.
For some of the players their way of making it even more memorable was eating a blade of the grass but for me, as the referee for the day, it was all about taking a few seconds to just admire the three stands and the daunting Hill 16 and take in the vastness of it all.
It was, also, about looking around the perfectly manicured pitch and reflecting on moments like Sean O’Shea’s free kick against Dublin to win last year’s All-Ireland semi-final to send Kerry to the final or going to the spot of heartbreak from where Stephen Cluxton scored the winner against Kerry in 2011.
The first game was Fossa v Emly of Tipperary. I threw the ball in, the game commenced and it was an honour to be running around in Croke Park.
Fossa won well and the pride of red and black was surely pumping through their veins by that stage. The sharpshooters fortunate enough to score in Croke Park were buzzing and, whatever about the refereeing duties, I couldn’t resist kicking the ball into an empty net the first chance I got, just to say I scored in Croker and claim bragging rights forevermore.
Fossa won their next two games comfortably enough, in similar fashion to the seniors on their voyage through the Junior Football Championship, and when their games were wrapped up, it was time to end a magical day of with a tour of the stadium to really soak it all in.
It was truly a lifetime experience I won’t forget, a day the players certainly won’t forget and we left the field of dreams that is Croke Park to return to our own field of dreams of Fossa with some golden memories.
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