“Up there, lads,” said the Kilmallock official, as he directed members of the fourth estate to their press box perch ahead of the Munster Club Football Championship meeting of The Nire and Ballylanders.
“Up there? Right so. This is going to be fun.”
The gradient of the cast iron ladder which led into the box, literally situated on top of the stand, was as near vertical as I’ve ever negotiated in my 15 and a half years of sportswriting. Ask anyone that knows me, my head for heights is about as reliable as an Eamon Dunphy prediction, but there was a match to be reported on, another GAA tale to be spun, so up and I went. Slowly.
Despite the humble facility at our disposal – Limerick radio station Live 95 had availed of the sole socket available that afternoon – the view above the stand was top class.
We were also insulated from the biting wind and could, intriguingly, hear every comment being uttered by both sideline teams, something one can’t do from behind the Plexiglas at Walsh Park or Fraher Field.
The Nire's extra-time victory over Cratloe was the finest football match I've ever witnessed in Fraher Field. The great Waterford football days are ones I particularly treasure.
