Friday, June 16, 2017

EVEN now, 20 years on from that trilogy of games, the mere mention of the name Jody Devine is enough to send a shiver down the spine of Kildare supporters.

His surname and role as an impact sub were a headline writer’s dream but his performance in Croke Park during extra time in that second drawn game was the stuff of nightmares for Kildare.

The performance of Devine on that sweltering hot day in Croke Park in late July, 1997 is well etched in Kildare supporter’s memories. Kildare had already seen victory snatched from them once when Trevor Giles’ late dramatic goal sent the game into extra time but they recovered superbly. Willie McCreery netted as Kildare scored 1-3 in the first half of extra time to seemingly set themselves on course to a first Leinster final since 1993.

Enter Jody Devine, who came into the game as replacement for PJ Gillic during normal time.

He scored four points, including three in a row at one stage, as Meath kicked seven successive points to go ahead. The fact that Paul McCormack equalised deep into injury time and forced a third game barely diminished the impact of Meath’s super sub.

“It’s hard to believe how quickly 20 years has gone,” said Devine.

“They were great games, very tough games, if they were played nowadays you’d probably be only left with the two goalkeepers, there would be that many cards shown. They were tough and hard but they were fair as well and everybody just got on with it. They were great games, Kildare had their chances and were in the lead a couple of times but couldn’t see it out and we came back. In the third game we got on top and were able to see it out, that was the way it was, they were very tight games,” he added.

Football 20 years ago was a very a different game and the sheer physicality of games still stick in the mind.

“All over the field there were lads putting their bodies on the line. I remember Glenn Ryan walking off the field, I had become friendly with Glenn playing in New York in 1994 so I knew him, his jersey was torn, he was hobbling, there was blood coming from his nose and he just went into the dressing room got himself patched up and was back out the next day. He didn’t complain, didn’t whinge, didn’t moan, same with our side, fellas got hit and just got on with it. It added to the spectacle that it was,” said Devine.

Even now, his heroics that day in Croke Park are still well remembered, for very different reasons, on both sides of the county border.

“You’d talk to people around the country and there are still people who remember me from that game. I’d still know a few Kildare people and they would be slagging me about it, you’re always reminded about it.

“It was just one of those days, on another day I might have kicked one or two of them and the others would have went wide but it just happened to go right for me on the day, in the last ten or 15 minutes nothing could go wrong for me. It was just part of an amazing three game series.

“I think it was 45-50,000 in Croke Park for that game. There was a slight breeze into the Canal End. The first shot I had went over the bar and things just went on from there. If I was asked to do it again I’d probably never do it again even I had 100 chances to do it. It was just one of those things, on that particular day everything seemed to go right,” said Devine.

Looking at the players who played in those games, it’s easy to see why the quality of the matches are still so highly regarded.

“You don’t realise at the time but from the Meath side of things when you look back now and see the players we had. We had a great side, Darren Fay, Mark O’Reilly and Paddy Reynolds in the back line, they were the new kids on the block coming from the underage teams. Then you had John McDermott in midfield, Trevor Giles, all these guys that anybody would be happy to have in their team today,” said Devine.

Getting over Kildare took a lot out of the then defending All-Ireland Champions and they were stunned by Offaly in the Leinster final.

“Darren Fay, Graham Geraghty, Mark O’Reilly were all suspended and we had a couple of injuries too. Offaly were probably fresh and were fresher on the day. We might have taken our eye off the ball a little though, after beating Dublin and Kildare we thought we were probably going to win it. It just shows you can never underestimate a team, not that we underestimated them but I think everything just took its toll going into that Leinster final,” said Devine.

They also lost the final the following year in 1998 when Kildare gained revenge for those games in 1997.

“There was very little in that game too. Trevor Giles got hurt which didn’t help us but we always knew it was going to be hard to beat Kildare, they were going to be looking for revenge. Naturally they were going to get that someday,” said Devine.

Devine is still involved in Meath football and last year led Bective to a Junior Championship title. That puts him in a good position to judge Saturday’s game and he’s expecting another cracking encounter between the two counties.

“Cian O’Neill is in his second year and Andy McEntee is in his first, I think it’s going to be a tight, good game, I just hope that whoever is in charge of it lets the players get on it with it and doesn’t be petty over little things. That’s the one thing about Gaelic football these days, you can’t touch a fella. You take a good game of hurling where fellas are really getting physical with each other, hard but fair, that’s gone out of Gaelic football these days. Meath and Kildare was always tough and hard but fair, never dirty. When the game was over, the game was over, you shook hands and walked off the field.

“I think it’s going to be a very cagey affair, no different to other years and it’s going to be a very tight game,” said Devine.