Brigid’s prove that they’re here to stay

Storm Isha was all the rage beforehand, but St. Brigid’s hopes of winning the Andy Merrigan Cup for a second time were uprooted by Storm Conor.

It looked like game, set and match for the Roscommon champions when Eddie Nolan’s 55th minute point pushed his side four points clear. It was a score conceived out of the team’s footballing principles — move the ball quickly and get the ball to the player in the best position. On this occasion, it was the midfielder taking a pass at full throttle and lashing the ball over the bar at the Hill 16 end of Croke Park.

Glen were gone, or so it appeared.

Enter Conor Glass who had been a colossus for his side all afternoon. Now, with another All-Ireland club title slipping away from his side in front of his eyes, he took it upon himself to change the narrative. 

It was an incredible, unselfish match-winning intervention, and it broke St. Brigid’s hearts. A "Master-Glass" one might conclude.

St. Brigid’s will be haunted by the manner in which they lost this game, but they were still magnificent, defying the odds and their age profile. They aren’t the first team from the county to experience the ultimate disappointment in a game they should have won, and they won’t be the last.

The margins in sport are often minuscule, and more experienced heads on young shoulders probably would have sealed the deal.

But Brigid’s were the team leaving Croke Park on Sunday last with their number of admirers embarking on a positive trajectory. On the biggest stage of all, they weren’t consumed by stage fright. They gave it a lash, backed by footballing intelligence. At no stage, did they take a backward step.

Nothing in sport is certain, but one would have to imagine that this side’s claim to club football’s biggest prize will be cemented sooner rather than later.

Of course, the manner of the defeat will hurt. Brigid’s is a club that prides itself on winning trophies, and they often achieve that goal with a swagger that makes them admired among football purists. They play football the way it should be played. They’re a joy to watch when they’re in their pomp.

But they’re also realists. Glen didn’t play well and still won.

Still, the players’ consciences were relatively unscathed coming into the game. They’re at a stage in their development where they can dust themselves down, learn from this defeat, and come back a better team. The reality that they don’t have too far to go to reach the summit scaled by the heroes of 2013 should inspire them, not inhibit them.

To see players like Ben O’Carroll, Ruaidhrí Fallon, Brian Stack and Pearse Frost revel in their surroundings did the heart good. They made a mockery of their team’s underdog status. For 55 minutes, they were the superior team. Now they know that they’re not a million miles away.

On Sunday, these players inspired a future generation, even in defeat. They also proved that Roscommon club football is in fine fettle. It could be argued that the hardest game St. Brigid’s got all year was from Boyle in the county final.

Jerome Stack has brought these players to a special place. It’s a platform that he or any potential new manager will relish building on.

Despite the weather warnings, the entertainment provided by four great GAA clubs was top class at GAA headquarters. Both games were terrific spectacles and ended up being decided by the smallest of margins, or in the cause of the hurling — an outrageous piece of skill and execution.

For Brigid’s to be part of that extravaganza should only fuel the desire for more days like this. When the dust settles and everyone in the South Roscommon club recharges the batteries, the odds are that they’ll be back on the biggest stages in their county and province, and at national level.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to deduce that they’re here to stay.