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17th Oct 2017

Player sent off in Antrim final… for clipping his brother

Long live the GAA

Ben Kiely

Antrim

They take sibling rivalry very seriously in Antrim GAA, it seems.

To reach a final, you need to be competitive. That means trying your best to win every ball. That means putting everything into every tackle

That means trying your best to win every ball. It means putting everything into every tackle. It means fighting for every goal, point, inch and occasionally, it can even mean fouling at all cost.

This cost can come in the form of missing the remainder of the game or, as might have happened in Antrim at the weekend, a potentially awkward dinner with your family.

In Padraig’s defence, it was the final and to make matters worse, it was painfully close.

As the clock wound down, there was less than a score separating St John’s and Lamh Dearg. Up until injury time, the game was level, but in the closing moments, the scoreline read 0-14 to 0-13 in favour of Lamh Dearg. The next score was either going to decide the game or force a draw.

As Padraig soon found out, karma is a motherfucker.

That’s the thing about finals, there’s always two sides to it.

Heartbreak for one parish, absolute jubilation for the other.

Fortunately, rivalries can be put aside after the fact. Here’s hoping the Nugent brothers are getting along as well as the Lamh Dearg coach and St John’s man Ciaran Johnston.

Til next year, boys.

LISTEN: The GAA Hour – Klopp in Croker, flop in Kildare and the ‘worst fans’ award?

Topics:

Antrim GAA