Search icon

GAA

25th Sep 2017

Pests who destroyed GAA club’s field must feel very embarrassed now

That'll teach them

Niall McIntyre

There are people out there.

You’d have to wonder when it would occur to someone that they should try and ruin the livelihoods of others. You’d have to wonder why it would possess someone to target a GAA club of all organisations.

You’d be left wondering for quite a while, because what was done in Derry the weekend just gone leaves us with loads of questions, but so few answers.

Watty Graham’s GAC Glen are a rural club in the heartland of South Derry. A club that was founded in 1933, and has become a community ever since.

Conor Glass is the poster boy, having captained his county to an Ulster minor title, and gone on to become a successful Aussie Rules star with Hawthorn.

Far from getting ahead of himself, far from forgetting where it all began, last weekend he was back home and was giving words of encouragement to the youngsters that aspire to be like him, that are inspired by him.

That’s what the GAA is about, the community, the volunteer spirit.

It’s so sad then, when someone feels the need to attack something that isn’t theirs’, and you’d have to feel that it’s done out of jealousy.

That’s exactly what happened to the South Derry club last weekend, when a group contrived to drive onto their pitch, and skid and drift around it for thrills.

The sad thing was, they did plenty of damage to the pitch, and as the club told us on Monday, they will have plenty of repair work ahead of them in order to fix the damage.

“The same thing happened a few years back but it’s certainly strange. Our pitch is along the main Belfast to Derry road. They took cars onto the pitch and tried to damage it as much as possible. No doubt it’s drink-related,” a spokesperson for Watty Graham’s GAC, Glen told SportsJOE.
It’s a testament to the community, and the GAA club itself that they didn’t dwell on their misfortune – their camogie team went ahead with their training session the next morning, and a group of members of the club have pledged to give a helping hand with the repair work over the next few weeks.
“Thankfully it’s a really dry pitch so the damage is mostly superficial. It’ll require some repair work which we’ll do in the weeks ahead.
“We’re not sure on costings but it won’t be too bad. Thankfully we’ve two other pitches which will carry the load in the meantime,” they continued.
The Derry club aren’t deterred, they won’t be down, because the only real losers here are those who felt the need to do it.

WATCH: Liverpool BOTTLED the title race 🤬 | Who will win the Premier League?

Topics:

Derry GAA