College View triumphs in Bill O’Herlihy Cup

The College View       10

DCUfm                         4

Bill O’Herlihy always harboured a deep-rooted desire for print journalism, confessing numerous times throughout his career a lifelong goal to become the Editor of his native Cork Examiner.

One can only hope that the Seventh Annual Bill O’Herlihy Memorial Cup, renamed after the legendary broadcaster’s passing in May 2015, will go some of the distance to realising his inward longing, as The College View triumphed 10-4 in this year’s competition over DCUfm.

The Cup, first played in 2010 when then-College View Sports Editor Niall Farrell and DCUfm Head of Sport Stephen Long conceived of the idea to provide an outlet for the heated rivalry between the two strands of DCU’s journalism core, has gone on to garner untold reverence in its seven years.

This year’s affair was no different as the sun bled down onto the DCU astro pitches in radiant fashion, making sprints an agonising penance for those competing, with sweat serving as the day’s featured entrée on a melting April afternoon.

The College View, controversially, brought with them some new recruits featuring Shelbourne youth player Stephen Meaney.

The affair bizarrely mimicked the events of Homer at the Bat, an episode of The Simpsons where, gunning to win a softball game between rival nuclear power plants, Mr. Burns hired an array of Major League Baseball players such as Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr, Steve Sax, Jose Canseco, Mike Scioscia, Don Mattingly and Darryl Strawberry.

Captain @AidanGeraghty1 receives the Bill O'Herlihy Cup from @DCUfmSport manager and head of sport @aidand472 pic.twitter.com/7H79NHDk6n

— The College View (@thecollegeview) April 13, 2016

The College View’s captain Aidan Geraghty reassured sceptics that DCUfm manager Aidan Delaney agreed that no players should be turned away, although the question of some of their contributions to the newspaper hung in the air as kick-off loomed.

The College View took the lead in their mixture of red, orange and Gibraltar shirts as outgoing Deputy Sports Editor Cormac O’Shea loomed inside the penalty area and steered the ball home.

A hat-trick from Gary O’Brien brought The View into a 4-2 lead before DCUfm, led charismatically by Delaney and incoming Head of Sport Jack O’Toole on the sideline, rallied to make it 4-4 shortly after the break.

Water was in short supply during the interval but inspiration was not as The College View reverted back to its original starting team of Deputy Editor and Sports Editor Geraghty, Deputy Sports Editor O’Shea, Arts Editor Stephen Keegan, Sports Columnist Conor Hawkins, Deputy Production Editor Niall Connolly, Deputy Images Editor David Clarke and Chief Sub-Editor Jamie Concannon.

Concannon was kept busy in goal and made a crucial save as the game reached its climactic turning point through a low diving save to his right that took all of the might he put into fixing headlines throughout the year into palming the ball to safety.

The View rallied and took no prisoners in the process – six goals to no reply in reigning home their first Bill O’Herlihy Cup since 2012.

Arts Editor @MacAodhagainS reacts to The College View's victory in the Bill O'Herlihy Cup. pic.twitter.com/FFTIYJiWdg

— The College View (@thecollegeview) April 13, 2016

Speaking after the final whistle – although no whistle was indeed sounded due to the absent nature of a non-existent referee – incoming Arts Editor Stephen Keegan summed up the thoughts of a university.

“We kept our hearts pure,” he said. “We believed in ourselves, we believed in the tactics, the spirit, the purity and the Total Football of the 1970s. Rinus Michels, Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona and The College View. We all stand together at the pinnacle of football.”

Manager of DCUfm, Delaney graciously handed over the cup to College View captain Geraghty with modest words.

“Congratulations to The College View,” he said. “They were just simply the better team on the day. We tried our best, I’m happy with our team’s performance. We had an awful lot of players here today and we got them all on so I’m happy that everyone got their opportunity to play for DCUfm.”

Captain Geraghty hoisted the cup into the air before dedicating the win to the departing Cormac O’Shea.

 

Aaron Gallagher