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More used to writing match reports, Colum Thompson has been moved to write in a different way after Antrim U21s' victory over Wexford at the weekend
We left the Antrim Glens that morn,
On the road right down to Tipp,
Goin to watch Antrim play,
They said “You’d need to catch a grip.”
“Sure they were beat by twenty eight last year,
And twenty six the year before,
They haven’t got a hope they said,
Wexford will beat them out the door.”
We got as far as Dublin ,
And we stopped to grab some grub,
The text came to the mobile phone,
They haven’t even got enough subs.
We listened to the pessimists,
But we didn’t give a hoot,
We had a big bag of ham sandwiches,
Lying in the boot.
We landed down in Thurles,
Told the boys to hurl with all their might,
Then we landed into Mackey’s bar,
To get ourselves a pint.
Then into Semple Stadium,
The Field Of Legends is it name,
If you get a big win in the place,
You’ll have eternal fame.
They came from Wexford, Galway and Clare,
They said you haven’t got a hope,
Antrim couldn’t win this game,
Ye are a hurling joke.
But they soon stood up and took notice,
When Mc Afee launched an exocet,
The keeper couldn’t catch it,
He dropped it in the net.
Then the Wexford people really panicked,
When Antrim hit the net again,
Ciaran Clarke the man who got it,
We were dancing in the rain.
At half time Antrim sprinted in,
Four points we were ahead,
The Wexford people swore and cursed,
“Our boys haven’t got out of bed.”
The crowd expected a come back,
Surely Wexford would do enough,
But the boys from County Antrim ,
Are made of sterner stuff.
Matthew Donnelly played at full back,
He was like a brick wall,
And every ball he stopped was cleared,
By Eoghan Campbell from Cushendall.
The Antrim backs stopped everything,
Wexford needed to get a goal,
They could get the score they wanted,
They may put their forwards on the dole.
Antrim were two points up,
With seconds left to go,
Jack Guiney had a close in free,
He’ll have to hit this low.
Well Guiney hit a rasper,
He thought it would do the trick,
But all the ball connected with,
Was Paddy Mc Naughton’s stick.
The ref he blew the whistle,
The Saffron flags flew high,
Our greatest day since 89,
There were tears in Tommy Campbell’s eyes.
Donal Kearney was delighted,
I’ve never seen a happier man,
He followed Antrim for sixty years,
He is the Saffron’s biggest fan.
We meet Clare now in the final,
I really couldn’t care,
We beat the Leinster Champions,
I know… because I was there.