Ballinagh man Ciaran Brady couldn’t make it home from Oz for the Cavan county final, so he listened to his boys on the internet. This is what being a fan is all about.
While watching your county do the business is very satisfying, watching your club doing well is even better. Watching lads you went to school with, friends, neighbours and family, play and win is one of the best feelings you will have as a fan in Ireland.
But with so many of our people in every corner of the globe, many fans can’t be there for the big days, like your team’s appearance in a county final.
That was the problem faced by Ballinagh’s Ciaran Brady. Based in Australia for the last four years, Ciaran, known as ‘Jaffa’, couldn’t make it home for his team’s game with the powerhouses of Cavan football, Cavan Gaels a fortnight ago.
Ballinagh were massive underdogs for the game (Cavan Gaels were priced at 1/9) but that didn’t deter Ciaran, who put on his club jersey, his club socks, tuned in Northern Sound on the internet and settled down for a very late night/early morning.
Luckily for us, the closing stages of the game in Ciaran’s sitting room were filmed, as Ballinagh tried to hang on to their slim, one-point lead to win a first ever senior title. Ciaran goes through all the emotions that any fan experiences in such moments, followed by the joy of the final whistle, which wakes up his sleeping housemates.
Oh yeah, and as you might expect, there’s a bit of swearing so stick in the headphones.
It’s a great video that is both joyous because of the occasion, and a little sad as Ciaran can’t be there to share the joy with his community.
Big thanks to Martin O’Reilly for sending us on the clip.
