Reasons I love the League of Ireland Part 73.
When I travelled on the bus with Cobh Ramblers for their opening match of the season at Finn Park in Ballybofey, I learned many valuable lessons about life as a League of Ireland player.
A fully loaded iPod is essential for such a long trip, of course.
'SuperBad' is, indeed, '…the greatest teen movie since American Pie'. And these days, cosmetics are an integral part of any self respecting player’s gear bag.
Hair gel has replaced Dubbin as the 'must-have' accessory in the boot bag. And somehow 'Eau de Tolka' just doesn't do it for the ladies in Krystle after the match.
When I waved goodbye to the Cobh lads as they headed back on the longest journey following their narrow defeat to Finn Harps, my work in the northwest wasn’t yet done.
Later that evening in the Villa Rose Hotel, Harps players and supporters celebrated their victory whilst launching 'The Finn Harps Story, the Official History of Finn Harps' by Bartley Ramsay. We reckon with a name like that he was always destined to be an author, or a spy!
The book really is a terrific read, a pacey gallop through the 40 seasons of League of Ireland football at Ballybofey and the many splendid characters who’ve played for and worked with the club.
Beaten 10-2 in their opening fixture against Shamrock Rovers, who would have thought that they would have played in Europe four times and won the FAI Cup?
Dubbed the Cinderella team of the League of Ireland, they never ran away and have survived and prospered against the odds.
Meeting the likes of Brendan Bradley, the league's all-time leading goalscorer, and Patsy McGowan, the only man to be fired three times as Harps manager, was a pure pleasure.
A feature on the club and its history is in production for a forthcoming edition of MNS, so do stay tuned for that.
In the meantime though, my favourite line from the book concerns the game against Derby County in the UEFA Cup in season 1976/77.
Derby were one of the top teams in England at the time, a team full of internationals.
Gerry Murray, the Harps keeper, remembers the occasion well: 'We went in at half time 9-0 down,' he recalls, 'and I knew we were in trouble.' Quite.
Harps went on to suffer their heaviest defeat in senior football, 12-0, and afterwards the late Fran Fields got on the bus and in tears declared that 'you are a useless shower; you showed us up tonight'. Life’s rich tapestry, eh?
It’s good to see Harps doing so well this season; their two home wins sees them lying in fourth place after the first three games.
Their next two matches on the road, against Bohemians and Bray, will give us a fair indication of how the Donegal club will do this season. Good luck to them.
After the book launch we travelled the relatively short distance to Derry from where we would fly to Dublin the next day. The first RTÉ live game of the season was at Drogheda where the champions would take on Shamrock Rovers and suffer a shock defeat.
It never occurred to me on the drive from Dublin to Cobh, or on the bus journey to Ballybofey, that the last leg of the trip would require me to leave the jurisdiction.
On arrival at Derry airport, those splendid security people removed from me all shaving cream, toothpaste and deodorant in my washbag and then charged me £1 for the see-through plastic bag! I feel a dirty protest coming on.
Which brings me to Cork last weekend and my first trip on the road since Donegal/Derry for the Cork City v Derry City league game live on RTÉ last Friday.
The game ended with a late and fully deserved equaliser for Derry. Goalscorer Conor Sammon said afterwards that it felt like a victory and Stephen Kenny’s bold and brave approach brought its own reward.
On Saturday, when shaving time came around, the lack of sufficient toiletries in the O’Donoghue wash bag came to light. A quick trip to the Douglas Shopping centre was called for and it was in Boots, among the moisturisers and the aftershave lotions, that we met up with Cork’s handsome net minder Mick Devine.
We agreed that the local paper’s description of Derry’s negative tactics was way off the mark. Indeed, if it wasn’t for Devine’s brilliance in saving from second-half substitute Mark Farren, the Foylesiders may well have gone home with all three points in the bag.
Before we said our goodbyes, and while his blushing subsided, Devine pointed out the hard-to-believe three-for-two offer at the pharmacy chain, and recommended a hair product that, he claimed, could make my grey hair blue.
Reasons I love the League of Ireland Part 74. Where else would you get it?!
Tony O’Donoghue is Group Football Correspondent for RTÉ.
