Rathangan's motley crew achieve mammoth milestone

Just one year after they began adult hurling at Rathangan GAA, the club reach a mammoth milestone, lifting the UPMC Junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship last Thursday evening after an incredible win over Round Towers in Hawkfield.

“There was a fierce amount of work put in during the year; begging lads to play; trying to put your arm around lads; trying to shout and ball then at different lads. It's kind of a balancing act, you know,” Rathangan manager, Justin Phelan told The Kildare Nationalist.

Explaining the emergence of the clubs hurling team, Phelan explained: “There's a good panel of U16 hurlers there; so, they'll be minors next year and we wanted to have a junior team for them boys to go on to.” 

Comprehensive victories in the both the final (beating Round Towers 3-5 to 0-7) and the semi-final (beating Athy 5-8 to 0-6) suggest that the Junior ‘A’ was perhaps a grade below where this Rathangan side belong.

The new Junior ‘A’ champions are something of a motley crew, with the squad comprised of players from all walks of life and backgrounds – and not all local to the area.

“I'm born and bred in Naas - we were always very involved in the GAA - and myself and a lad from Galway, Dave Carton, (Rathangan) approach is to ask us to see if there was any possibility of getting a team together,” Phelan said.

“It’s a junior hurling team, so there’s baldy heads and beer bellies and young lads, you know; it's a mix of players and abilities, and lads from up and down the country.” 

Their goalkeeper emerged as Emmett Finlay, manager of the Castlemitchell footballers. With no adult hurling in Castlemitchell, Finlay approached some of his players about the possibility of hurling for Rathangan and successfully recruited James and Ross Harris.

“They came down training, and they were exceptional,” Phelan said. “Obviously, they're primarily footballers, you can spot them when they aren’t hurlers, but they turned up for training and they were exceptional.” 

The club’s proximity to the Curragh has also allowed them to attract the services of four current jockeys, namely Donagh Meyler from Kilkenny, Danny Gilligan from Galway, Conor Walsh from Wexford and Pa Moloney, a work rider and apprentice farrier at the Curragh.

“Pa Moloney – a horse stood on his foot two weeks ago and he was playing with a broken bone the last couple of matches; Conor Walsh was starting with us during the year, but he got a slap last week, and he's broke up; Donagh Meyler broke his pelvis during the season; them jockey boys are tough men,” Phelan said.

Meyler and Gilligan both raced at Tramore on the day of the final, with Meyler finishing second in the 2.10pm onboard the Ross O'Sullivan-trained Dusky Night. Gilligan was third in the same race before adding another third-place finish in the 4.30pm, with the pair then returning to Kildare to help Rathangan make history.