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15 May 1997 Edition

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Sportsview: Thousands of Séan Browns

By Sean O'Donaile

This was supposed to be a great week for Derry football, with their Under 21's capturing their first All Ireland title since 1968, thrashing Meath on a 1-12 to 0-5 scoreline. No doubt Bellaghy played a part, as they have done in Derry's recent glories.

They lost out to Crossmaglen after a replay in the Ulster Club Final last winter and have been one of Ireland's leading clubs of late.

Their success and the success of thousands of clubs throughout the country is due to all the Seán Browns who put in countless voluntary hours with little reward. There are thousands of his like throughout the country and it is through their efforts that Sean Brown's memory will ensue.

 

Another Derryman, Eamon Coleman, must be scratching his head after Longford were unceremoniously chewed up and spat out by a resurgent Offaly. The ridiculous nature of the championship is clear with the elimination of half of all the teams after a 70 minute season. What incentive is there for a promising footballer in Longford if all his season offers is a few run arounds in the mud in Division 4, which everyone keeps telling him isn't important anyway, and one championship match a year?

The GAA would do well to radically alter their system without worrying about being labelled copycats. What say you to two divisions of sixteen with each team playing a guaranteed 15 games with the top team winning the championship and a knockout competition being simultaneously run for the league cup...And pigs might fly!

Unknown to many, Longford were once a footballing powerhouse with my namesake Sean Donnelly inspiring them to a League and Leinster championship in the 60s. It's one of those places where most of us would be hard pressed to come up with two facts about it. Here's a few - Ireland's showjumping ace Eddie Macken comes from Granard, where they run a harp competition annually; there was once a soccer team whose manager was called Zak; and there's a place there called Polla Dubhi (The Black Hole), but there's no loyalists living there.

Despite countless training sessions and sacrifices their footballers fell down that black hole for another year after Offaly whopped five goals past them.

Westmeath, Wexford, Limerick and Tipperary manage to avoid the Poll Mór for another week after playing out two draws, and either Tyrone or Down, who have provided such entertainment since 1990, will be swallowed into the Black Hole after next Sunday. What a system!

Once again nobody's backing Tyrone, so for that reason I'm backing them to dispose of ``Withnell And I'' and friends, although I reckon Down will do well in the Over-40's Championship.


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