Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and our lads rose to this mantra, writes Eric Byrne. Our lads seem very comfortable with the big day scenario in Dublin’s home ground Parnell Park, but unfortunately ended up walking away empty handed in 2012.This year our first match against Ballinteer was tough and for most of the first half they pushed us hard, but we rode out sizable winners in the end.
Now the lads nerves visibly seem to get worse and nightmares from last year’s final came back to haunt them. We now faced Whitehall in the final. The scene was set, with the supporters singing noisily in the stands. Whitehall started very strong and put 2-2 past us. But with only minutes remaining in the first-half Joe Murray and Alex O’Neill pulled two goals back to keep Towers within distance. The half-time talk shall remain wordless in case of offending our avid readers, but needless to say that steely glint was back in the lads eyes for the resumption of the second-half and they roared back onto the pitch like pagan warriors. The Whitehall boys froze in terror at this renewed vigor from the green and white hoops. If they were in terror as the whistle sounded to commence the second-half, they were in frantic shock soon after as Towers goal poachers Joe Murray, Dara Byrne and Leon Murphy smashed three goals past them in five minutes. The Northsiders never recovered as our rampaging hurlers put four goals and three points pass them in the second half to claim our first county cup.The final whistle was heartbreaking for Whitehall and Towers went ballistic and ran onto the pitch into a mass huddle. Mentors stood still with lumps in throats and the best fans in Dublin cheered with glee at this famous Towers camaint victory.
Much thanks to many people. The county board who ran a great competition, the parents who cheered and supported the troops giving their all, the Main sponsors (EP Mooneys) who supported us all the way, our own club who gave us unending backing, and Phil, Denis and Gary for their valued input during the finals and who will be on-board for the rest of the year – great additions. Catherine Moran and Noel Kelly made the competition smooth sailing for us and the future looks bright under their leadership. Most of all huge thanks to the players, who were losing at half time in the final but knuckled down and brought the silverware home to Round Tower clubhouse and enjoyed a tournament of 13 wins from 13 matches over the last six weeks – some going. Thanks to Peter parker and Clark Kent (aka Damien Murray) for the pictures, Jimmy and Sally who catered for our every need afterwards and to DJ Ger for providing the lastest sounds.
Camaint 2013 pictures can be viewed here.
Camaint 2013
Semi-Final: Round towers 4-2 V Ballinteer St John 2-2
Final: Round Tower 6-3 V Whitehall Colmcille 3-2
Mentors: Eric Byrne/Paul Whelan, Phil Quinlivan/Denis Callanan. Towers abú
