‘Hon the Ha.
We’re only a few weeks into 2016, but if it’s anything like the year just passed then it’s going to be an incredible one for Curraha GAA Club.
The Royal County side won the Meath and Leinster Junior Football titles in 2015, they won Division Four in the league in A and B, and capped it all off with a Tailteann Cup, reserve league and under-21 A titles and the Meath club of the year for good measure.
Now, they’re only one game away from Croke Park, but first they have to overcome the fairly serious obstacle posed by Kerry side Templenoe in the All-Ireland Junior semi-final in the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick on Sunday.
Ahead of that game, we caught up with captain Gavin Coyle, who doubles as the PRO as well, so there’s no better man to tell us all we need to know about the club and the previously untold secrets of the dressing room.
Spotlight on Curraha
Club name: Curraha
Club colours: Green and Yellow
Year established: 1903
Estimated size of population covered by parish: 900
Proudest moment in the club’s history? Being crowned Leinster Junior Champions in 2015 and being crowned Club of the Year for the first time.
Most loyal/fanatical supporter? Richie Keogh. Loves the game and is the first person at every game but we don’t know if that’s to support the lads or to try and get in for free.
Loves doing the gate at matches and will give plenty of slagging to opponents as well as his own team.
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Best nickname: Sledge (Niall Murphy, below). It’s his first year as part of the panel and he was given the name Sledge by one of the oldest members of team due to his determination and strength.
He would go through a brick wall and you don’t want to mess with him; he saw red during the Leinster semi-final though.
Most likely player to be found on Tinder? Danny Battersby (below). Doesn’t do girlfriends and likes to pick and choose his women. His beard is his pride and joy and without it he’d be lucky to get into an under-age disco.
Most likely player to break a beer ban? David Dunne. He does what he wants. He went to the Grand National at Fairyhouse and turned up training smelling of booze. He wasn’t long being told to go home (back to the local).
Dodgiest Championship haircut (please describe): Ciaran O’Hanrahan. The week before the county final, a few of the lads were in his house and he decided to dye his hair blonde.
Since that day, he has had the nickname THOR and is certainly one of the Gods of Curraha.
Who’s the last guy off the pitch at training? Daniel Doran. Everyone is usually gone in for showers or tea and sandwiches but he’s still out kicking balls and trying to kick frees off the ground.
The team-mate you’d least like to take a hefty shoulder from: James McEntee. An absolute beast and when he gets up to top speed he would go through anyone. One of the most committed and talented players on the team.
The team-mate the opposition would most like to give a hefty shoulder to: Locky Keogh, a brother of Richie’s and another die-hard Curraha man.
You mightn’t see him covering every blade of grass on the pitch but you will certainly hear him cheer every score and jump up and down pumping his fist shouting “’Hon The Ha”.
He gets on the opposition’s nerves and they go all out to get at him but he loves every minute of it.
Oldest player to ever have played for the club: Pat Moriarty. Has two sons on the panel and would not be out of the equation himself; he’s always up doing his own training and training his kids. A great player who played in goals towards the end of his career.
Player with the longest distance to travel to training: Conor McCann, an Antrim-born legend who joined us in 2010. He was working in Dublin and was travelling out to training with Gary Dowling but due to work, they found it hard to get out this year.
Most of the other lads are all local.
Last guy you’d want to take a penalty in the last minute of a county final: Seamus Hogan (below). A great man-marker and tight corner-back but when he goes to kick the ball everyone closes their eyes so he wouldn’t know what to do when taking a penalty.
Player you’re most likely to mute in the club WhatsApp group: Evan McGovern. Once there is any conversation going on in the WhatsApp group he feels the need to comment yet he does a disappearing act now and again too. Still, he’s one of the gents on the team.
Best ‘Junior B story’ involving your club: Mark Phelan woke up as normal one Sunday morning, threw on the wet-weather clothes and headed off to a B league game in Clann Na Gael.
With Mark being injured and unable to play due to surgery on his shoulder, he got out of the car to realise that we had only 14 players and the match would have to be forfeited if there weren’t 15 players on the pitch by the start of the second half.
So our managers rang around looking for the 15th man but nobody appeared. Half-time came and they began to look at Mark – him standing there with not even a pair of boots on – and eventually decided he would be the 15th man.
So the referee blew the whistle for the start of the second half and up Mark stepped out of the fog, fully-clothed with his glasses still on. He went in corner-forward and was told by John Hogan to “run around and look lively”.
This was Mark’s adult debut and of his appearance he said: “I had always pictured myself on my adult debut coming on and making a match-winning block, but standing in corner-forward to make up the numbers of a cold, foggy Sunday morning is just as good.”
It wouldn’t happen anywhere else but in the B league and the picture above went viral afterwards.
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