Clonoulty take the first step in moving on

By Shane Brophy

As expected, the atmosphere was muted on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Boherlahan, with no one in attendance knowing what to think as the tragic death of Dillon Quirke on the field of play in the previous round had never had to be dealth with before and to Clonoulty/Rossmore’s credit, they did their captain proud.

The parish of Clonoulty/Rossmore turned out in support of eachother and the senior hurling team who had to move on and play for their first time without their skipper following his death during their previous game with Kilruane sixteen days previous.

From the moment, they stepped out of the dressing room for their warm-up, there was a focus. They did the warm-up on the training pitch, away from the glare of the crowd. They had a job to do and the best way to honour Dillon in their first game following his death was to play in his image, with purpose and drive, and they did that.

They received a warm round of applause coming onto the field from all in attendance and the only sound you could hear during the minutes silence were the cars passing on the road, it was as eerie as it was haunting.

It can’t have been easy for everybody involved in the Clonoulty/Rossmore club to get back to what they do best, which is hurl, but getting back to playing will have come as a relief as there was no guarantee their grief was going to be channelled in the right direction, but from an early stage in the game, there was no need to worry.

In that sense, everyone in Clonoulty/Rossmore will have a sense of unity this week, according to club chairman and Dillon’s uncle Andrew Fryday.

“The last two weeks have been very, very tough,” he admitted.

“Something unprecedented in our club, that we never, ever came across before.

“How to deal with it, how to handle it…we didn’t know. One day at a time. We got the boys back in to training, in for a chat as soon as we could, because they needed a focus themselves. They were lost. We were all lost.

“We’d just love to have Dillon with us again. But that’s not going to happen. So, we have to reunite. To come together as a club and as a family as best we can.”

He added: “We have super people involved in running the club. We always have magnificent guys involved in the team who have huge experience. From Declan Ryan to John Devane to Anthony Roche to Jason Forrestal – they help pull and knit the boys back and focus and get out of where we were, that frozen period of time that we were in.

“So, look, we’re just delighted to get over the line and get our focus back and get working at what we do well in Clonoulty, and that’s try and hurl at the top level.

“Even though Dillon is gone, we’ll try and get back there and stay dining at the top table if we’re able to.

“Look, we’re never going to forget Dillon and the hurt and the pain will stay for a long, long time. But we all know we have to get on with living.”

With the way the results fell on Sunday, the rematch with Kilruane MacDonaghs will have to be played, something Clonoulty/Rossmore hoped to avoid. Both sides need a win to progress to the knockout stages

“It’s a tough game ahead,” Fryday added.

“It really is. Tough for both sides. We’re just going to have to go and face it,” with Fryday also thanking, Kilruane MacDonaghs, Nenagh Eire Og and Moycarkey/Borris for agreeing to the schedule change for last Sunday’s games to delay the re-fixture with Kilruane for another couple of weeks.