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Authors: Gerard Siggins
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swung hard and smacked into the leather ball.
It flew high into the air, tumbling over on itself like a rabbit scampering away from a hound. The ball reached its peak high above the crowd who, as one, watched as it hovered for a moment before it slowly began its descent.
It fell right between the upright posts, where the referee had run to check the accuracy of the kick. He raised his hand high and blew his whistle.
The clock had already ticked on to ‘40’, so the referee lifted his whistle to his lips once more. Game over: 25-24 to Munster.
Eoin leapt from his seat and hugged his dad.
‘That was brilliant,’ he said, ‘What a game!’
All the way back to Castlerock they talked about the match and the dramatic finish. As Eoin stood at the door of the school waving to his father as he drove away, another car pulled up and Duffy and Flanagan jumped out.
‘No red shirts in this school,’ sneered Duffy.
‘Even winning ones?’ asked Eoin.
Duffy stopped and looked at Flanagan. He opened his mouth, but no words came.
‘See you in the morning,’ smiled Eoin, before he took the stairs two at a time on the way to bed.
C HAPTER 16
I t was raining next morning, and a cold wind whipped in off Dublin Bay. Eoin shivered as he pulled on the green and white shirt of Castlerock College.
‘Right team, gather around,’ said Mr Carey as the clatter of studs echoed around the changing room.
‘Ligouri College aren’t the biggest school in this competition, but they have a decent record. We must not underestimate them. I want to see us getting on top from the off, and I want to see points on the board.
‘Duffy, you better have your kicking boots on, and you need to take anything we get within range in the first twenty minutes.’
‘Madden, you’ve had a good season so far, so let’s see a bit more of that form at this level. Keep close to Duffy and be ready to get the moves going.’
As Mr Carey moved on to gee-up the forwards, Duffy stepped back and turned his head towards Eoin.
‘The only time you’ll see the ball today is at the kick off. Get used to it, loser,’ he muttered under his breath.
Eoin jogged out on the field along with the rest of the team. There were a couple of hundred boys watching, including several members of the SCT.
Duffy kicked off and the ball fell short of the ten metre line, which meant the teams had to return to the middle for a scrum.
‘Sloppy, Duffy,’ roared Mr Carey, ‘Sharpen up.’
Duffy winced, and some of the younger boys laughed at the bully’s discomfort.
Ligouri turned out to be rather a good side, and actually took the lead with a penalty kick from almost half-way scored by an enormous No.8 with flaming red hair.
Duffy was kicking every time he got the ball, and missed touch on a couple of occasions. It became clear to Eoin that he was not going to pass to him. Inwardly he was rather glad about that, as no passes also meant there was no opportunity to drop the ball, or make a fool of himself once again.
‘Get the line moving,’ roared Mr Carey as the Castlerock out-half once again hoofed the ball up-field.
The next time the ball came back to Duffy, he tossed a pass way over Eoin’s head to the outside centre, smirking as the ball fell into his hands and hesprinted away for a try.
‘Good move, Duffy,’ said Carey as he ran on with a water bottle while the kicker was preparing for the conversion . ‘The missed pass caught them out. Keep playing like that and we’ll win this.’
Duffy missed with the goal kick, and missed another penalty attempt shortly afterwards.
With the score 5-3 at half-time, Mr Carey was a little bit concerned.
‘Duffy, what’s wrong with your kicking today? If you’re off-form with the boot there’s no point kicking for touch every ball you get. The first time you let the backs run we got a try. I want to see a lot more of that in the second half.’
‘Sir, to be honest I don’t have confidence in my centre,’ said
It flew high into the air, tumbling over on itself like a rabbit scampering away from a hound. The ball reached its peak high above the crowd who, as one, watched as it hovered for a moment before it slowly began its descent.
It fell right between the upright posts, where the referee had run to check the accuracy of the kick. He raised his hand high and blew his whistle.
The clock had already ticked on to ‘40’, so the referee lifted his whistle to his lips once more. Game over: 25-24 to Munster.
Eoin leapt from his seat and hugged his dad.
‘That was brilliant,’ he said, ‘What a game!’
All the way back to Castlerock they talked about the match and the dramatic finish. As Eoin stood at the door of the school waving to his father as he drove away, another car pulled up and Duffy and Flanagan jumped out.
‘No red shirts in this school,’ sneered Duffy.
‘Even winning ones?’ asked Eoin.
Duffy stopped and looked at Flanagan. He opened his mouth, but no words came.
‘See you in the morning,’ smiled Eoin, before he took the stairs two at a time on the way to bed.
C HAPTER 16
I t was raining next morning, and a cold wind whipped in off Dublin Bay. Eoin shivered as he pulled on the green and white shirt of Castlerock College.
‘Right team, gather around,’ said Mr Carey as the clatter of studs echoed around the changing room.
‘Ligouri College aren’t the biggest school in this competition, but they have a decent record. We must not underestimate them. I want to see us getting on top from the off, and I want to see points on the board.
‘Duffy, you better have your kicking boots on, and you need to take anything we get within range in the first twenty minutes.’
‘Madden, you’ve had a good season so far, so let’s see a bit more of that form at this level. Keep close to Duffy and be ready to get the moves going.’
As Mr Carey moved on to gee-up the forwards, Duffy stepped back and turned his head towards Eoin.
‘The only time you’ll see the ball today is at the kick off. Get used to it, loser,’ he muttered under his breath.
Eoin jogged out on the field along with the rest of the team. There were a couple of hundred boys watching, including several members of the SCT.
Duffy kicked off and the ball fell short of the ten metre line, which meant the teams had to return to the middle for a scrum.
‘Sloppy, Duffy,’ roared Mr Carey, ‘Sharpen up.’
Duffy winced, and some of the younger boys laughed at the bully’s discomfort.
Ligouri turned out to be rather a good side, and actually took the lead with a penalty kick from almost half-way scored by an enormous No.8 with flaming red hair.
Duffy was kicking every time he got the ball, and missed touch on a couple of occasions. It became clear to Eoin that he was not going to pass to him. Inwardly he was rather glad about that, as no passes also meant there was no opportunity to drop the ball, or make a fool of himself once again.
‘Get the line moving,’ roared Mr Carey as the Castlerock out-half once again hoofed the ball up-field.
The next time the ball came back to Duffy, he tossed a pass way over Eoin’s head to the outside centre, smirking as the ball fell into his hands and hesprinted away for a try.
‘Good move, Duffy,’ said Carey as he ran on with a water bottle while the kicker was preparing for the conversion . ‘The missed pass caught them out. Keep playing like that and we’ll win this.’
Duffy missed with the goal kick, and missed another penalty attempt shortly afterwards.
With the score 5-3 at half-time, Mr Carey was a little bit concerned.
‘Duffy, what’s wrong with your kicking today? If you’re off-form with the boot there’s no point kicking for touch every ball you get. The first time you let the backs run we got a try. I want to see a lot more of that in the second half.’
‘Sir, to be honest I don’t have confidence in my centre,’ said
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