This article is from page 101 of the 2009-05-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 101 JPG
IN 1999 Rineanna Rovers were sec- onds away from winning a cup final only for Michael Devitt to score a Bunratty equaliser in the final minute of their clash in the County Grounds. Ten years on five of that beaten Rine- anna Rovers team finally landed the cup medal they craved.
For Hugh Kelly, Pa Fahy, John Earls, Brian ‘Joxer’ Kelly and Dec- lan Devitt it was worth waiting for — they more any other members of the Rovers squad seemed to appreci- ate what this meant.
“T didn’t think P’d be around when Rineanna finally landed a big one,” said Hugh Kelly seconds after the fi- nal whistle. “It’s huge for the club. A couple of years ago, it was touch and go whether the club would go on, but Colm Ryan came in as manager. He told us what his plans were and we all went with it. Everyone got togeth- er and decided to give it a real go. To get arun out was brilliant. Colm did that for me. That’s what I think any- way. I’m off to Newmarket now and then to the Honk. We’II keep it in the parish and celebrate.”
Kelly, a bit of a cult figure in Rine- anna Rovers’ 25-year history, had an army of volunteers at his shoulder.