What's Happening at Garryowen?

29th February 2004

Gisborne versus Garryowen

In junior football an easy way out of a thorough match report from the coach of a victorious team usually involved the words "whole team effort" in the space marked "Best Players:". It was a trouble-free way of being non-committal about a side's performance, without offending anybody or leaving anybody out.

On Sunday in Gisborne, though, Garryowen, quite genuinely put in a "whole team performance" and in this case there is nothing non-committal about it. Truly, every player that took the field in the red and white on Sunday afternoon against the pride of the Ballarat Football League, the Gisborne Bulldogs, contributed in some way, setting up a glorious victory.

In front of a very large crowd at Gisbourne with live PA commentary filling the air, the Gaelic footballers defeated the Aussie Rules country league champions in a compromised rules match that had all involved keenly anticipating next year's game (now almost a certainty). And while five or six players led the Red Army to victory, they had behind them a supporting cast to die for. A mix of Irish and Australian footballers, some of whom were inexperienced to the point of never having played a competitive match of any type of football before, took to the hybrid game with poise and steadfast commitment. Some drifted in and out of the game while, others played 80 minutes of brilliant football, but all did something-a chase, a tackle, a smother-that had a significant bearing on the match.

The coin toss was won by Gisborne who chose to kick with the wind, which blew with some force towards the creek end of the ground. Both teams went on to shake off a mutually shaky start, but it was Gisborne who consolidated the better. They had a great deal of the play in the first half, but were not always able to capitalise on their opportunities, sometimes spraying relatively easy "over" opportunities out of bounds. Garryowen, on the other hand, had less of the ball, but were more efficient, taking better advantage of their limited opportunities in the forward line.

Garryowen debutante Alex Silvagni showed himself to be a player to watch in the future with a startlingly impressive first half in which he showed the skill and self-possession under pressure of a ten year veteran. His work all over the ground, but particularly at half forward, was invaluable, and he set up numerous scoring chances.

At the opposite end of the ground, Noel Carty saved a handful of goals and used his now legendary timing to nip dozens of Gisborne attacks in the bud. Near the end of the first half he made a brilliant save on the line and then cleared the ball awkwardly, hyper-extending his knee and injuring it badly enough for him to take no further part in the game.

As the premier goalkieeper in the GAA competition, Noel was always going to be Gaelic side's greatest weapon. At the time of his injury it looked as if the incident would spell the end of any slim hope of victory that Garryowen had. It forced Sean O'Sullivan into sacrificing himself as a running player to take his place in goal and required a reshuffle in a number of positions across the ground.

Noel is a gun player, but Sean has played the game long enough to know the important tricks of the trade-the covering of angles, the reading of the bounce of the ball, when and when not to come off his line-and was a tremendous fill-in. He also allowed Kieran O'Sullivan, the natural replacement for Noel, to play in the forward line, a move that would prove crucial in the context of the match. Other outstanding first half players were Dean and Brendan Hislop, Paddy and Andrew Slevison.

At the break Garryowen had squeezed everything out of the opportunities they were given and trailed by just six points.

The second half was, among other things, a giant step forward for the Garryowen men's footballers. What many at the ground had expected to be a comfortable Gisborne win in what would be a half-serious exhibition game, became a hard-fought contest in a match that provided great entertainment and excitement.

Gisborne began strongly, but fatally struggled to play effective football into the wind. They had struggled with the adaptation to the round ball for the whole match, but had been able to play excellent football ball with the win in the first half, nonetheless. In the second half, not even their relentless willingness to run and undeniable strength and size advantage could make up for a lack of experience with the Gaelic football. Although not as prolifically as in the first half, they got the ball into their forward line enough but squandered opportunities. At the other end, Garryowen were swept out of their post-half time lethargy and began to gain the ascendancy.

It was small defenders Dean Hislop, Charlie Hynes whowere the initial catalysts behind what would become a match-winning period of final-half football. Playing on one of the best full-forwards country football has seen for some time and giving away at least ten centimetres and thirty kilograms, Dean was magnificent off half back, barely letting his opponent go near the ball but, more importantly, setting up forward movements with regular monotony.

Behind him, Charlie marked himself as one of Garryowen's most valuable players (very early in what is hoped to be a long career) with courage and speed that sometimes put Gisborne's senior players to shame. On an extraordinary number of occasions, Charlie turned three-on-two or four-on-three Gisborne attacks into Garryowen scores with a superb ability to read the play and run off his man.

Beside Charlie, Paddy careered out of defence with such speed, agility and ferocity that only the most concerted Gisborne effort to catch him could bring him to ground. But for every time he was caught, there were three times that he left opponents behind and then used his supreme Gaelic skills to deliver the ball slickly into the midfield or forward line.

Their second halves were overshadowed by only one player; Brendan Hislop.

The name Hislop was mentioned over the PA system on what seemed to be several million occasions during the course of Sunday's game (and then again when both brothers performed well in the hundred metre sprint and when Mick McGuane made a public attempt to recruit Brendan) and while Dean was a deserved winner of the best on ground trophy presented at the end of the match, his brother's second half was poetry in motion.

If he was good in the first half, he was incredible in the second when he got what was close to a possession every minute and was crucial to Garryowen's absolute midfield dominance. In the end, sometimes-wayward kicking probably cost him keys to the city and instant selection in the squad for Australia's International Rules game at the end of the year, but in his first game of Gaelic-esque football ever, this was to be expected.

Beside him in the midfield, Nathan Juergen played his third consecutive dazzling game for the men in red (he has played only three), and was also important to the team's ultimate victory.

In the forward line, Andrew Slevison could not be stopped and a five or ten minute burst towards the end of the match from him, basically put the game out of Gisborne's reach. He marked powerfully, kicked well, but best of all roved masterfully and was, with Kieran, Garryowen's most potent forward-line player.

Ultimately, a purple patch of constant attacking and regular scoring, including two unders, put Garryowen ahead and allowed them to stay ahead. In spite of this, the tenacity of the Gisborne players ensured that only when their coach announced to the crowd that there were just two minutes left, was it certain to anybody watching that the contest was over, and many agreed after the game, that what they had seen was both enjoyable and commendable.

The Gisborne Football Club should be congratulated for organising such a fun and well-run event.

The Garryowen Gaelic Football Club should be congratulated on a stirring triumph.