This year’s fixture took place, yet again, at the luxurious Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Co. Dublin. The club was well represented by the usual suspects for what was to prove to be yet another great evening. All the way from England came Steve O’Hare, Emma Hunter and her brother Tom, who was gracing the club on the evening for his debut appearance. Arrivals for pre-evening warm-up commenced at around 4p.m.where Michael Kelly gathered the troops for drinks and pep talk before announcing the line-up to take to the hall. The formation was circular with four trialists drafted in from another club to complete the table line-up.

1. T. McCloskey
2. Trialist
3. Trialist
4. Trialist
5. J. Rotherham
6. E. Hunter
7. F. McKay
8. K. McKay
9. T. Hunter 10. S. O'Hare
11. B. McAuley
12. Trialist
 AWAY TEAM

1. T. Maher
2. T. Boyd
3. J. Craig
4. S. Crainey
5. J. Greenan
6. B. Balde
7. N. Lennon
8. P. Lambert
9. T. Hamilton 10. D. Agathe
11. B. Petta
 
All parties then retired to the dressing rooms, before a club delegation returned for a promotional shoot with the trophy. Kick-off was set for 7.30p.m., with all club members formally dressed for such a prestigious event – the goalkeeper’s pink shirt donned the previous season had been ditched this year to prevent in-club fighting.
 
Emma and Tom Hunter with Jim

A huge attendance gathered as tension mounted, and Tom, Joe, Barney and Steve began their pre-match routine by handing out programmes to all attending. Special guests were spotted throughout the hotel including Robbie Keane and many of the top pro golfers (a huge disappointment was the non-inclusion of last year’s guest Daniel O’Donnell), all gathering in the hope of a glimpse of the now famous pink shirt.

Club manager, Michael Kelly, disappeared as he prepared to welcome the visiting team and guests of honour. The club formed the now ritual ‘huddle’ around the dinner table before the visitors were introduced one by one, led by their manager – one Martin O’Neill. The crowd was overwhelmingly in favour of the visitors, and indeed Bobby Petta began a little showboating by juggling the salt and pepper. Joe responded by doing likewise with his knife and fork, before severing an artery in his arm and having to be replaced with so little of the game gone. Things turned nasty as Tom McCloskey squared up to Bobo Balde, before Neil Lennon and Didier Agathe intervened to calm matters (reminding Balde that such a confrontation was not advisable). Tom Boyd and Stephen Crainey put in good shifts for the visitors, whilst Frankie bedazzled with his fancy footwork, although to a lesser extent than last year. Tom Hunter showed great endurance and stamina, lasting well into the wee hours, especially given that he and Emma had such early starts the next day. Paul Lambert capped a great season with the man of the match award, and charity was the overall winner with a healthy donation towards the Special Olympics in Ireland in 2003. Barney and Steve led from the front extremely well, propping up the bar and holding the line like the Alamo.

After a fine half-time meal, and several refreshment beverages, play slackened from the Home team and the Away team took a grip of matters. Indeed, a team talk from Martin O’Neill had the Home team reeling so much so that Martin decided to leave the game after the meal, and left the formality to come to fruition. Play was interrupted late in the game as two over anxious fans stormed the field of play brandishing foreign flags and mobbing the Home team in the process. The game at this point was over as a competition and the visitors slid out the backdoor, leaving Uisce Beatha to finalise matters. A great performance by these guys was one of the highlights of the evening.

Club Secretary Frankie with Mr. & Mrs. Jim Craig

The icing on the cake, however, was the transfer to the Home team of Jim Craig, who amazed, informed, and captivated the players for several hours. Both he and his lady wife were presented with a gift to mark the occasion and things at this point really took off. Steve and Tom each decided to use their match fee on a relaxing evening cigar (the cost of which could have healthily contributed to eradicating world debt), and after-match celebrations continued well into the Sunday morning.

The next day injuries were prominent throughout the squad. Indeed, Barney had been totally perplexed by a two-bottled lunge from a vintage 1945 Rosy the previous evening, and became a major doubt for the drive home. Michael concluded matters with a few late transfers, namely the sale of some dodgy club fleeces that had fallen off the back of a van (Nissan Micra), and the squad departed the hotel in good spirits. Another fixture gone, another great result, and a lot more fixtures to come for the great club that Belfast Shamrock CSC is.