7.30pm 2 December 2023
Carlow and District League, Premier Division
St Patrick’s Boys 1 Crettyard United 2 (att 90)
Each weekend there are usually at least a handful fixtures in the Republic of Ireland scheduled for a Saturday evening. The groundhopping challenge is finding a way of combining one with an afternoon game in the north.
It took a little under two-and-a-half hours to drive from Lisburn to Carlow, south west of Dublin. It was a trickier journey than I’d hoped for, but I arrived about 10 minutes before kick off.
I was expecting a basic 3G ‘cage’, but The Meadows, home to St Patrick’s Boys AFC, is a much better venue than that. The surface is artificial, but spectators can access all four sides with hard standing all around.
There are dugouts facing each other across the pitch, and some advertising boards. There’s even a small area of cover, although its primary function is to shelter people queuing for the snack bar in the corner of the ground.
I chose this game purely for reasons of geography and kick off time, but with both sides unbeaten in the league it was an attractive fixture. It was, unsurprisingly, a tight and hard fought game between well-matched teams.
Crettyard broke the deadlock about 10 minutes before half time. St Patrick’s delighted their supporters when they levelled 20 minutes into the second half.
A draw would have been a fair outcome, and looked likely as an increasingly tetchy game approached its conclusion. But in stoppage time the visitors got a dramatic winner, prompting wild celebrations among their players, staff and supporters.
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