By Alanna Cunnane
County final day.
Come 3pm this afternoon Naomh Eoin and Easkey/St Farnan’s throw in with the winners to be crowned Senior Hurling Champions.
Supporters for both range far and wide, with one passionate follower currently situated on the other side of the world in New Zealand, Conán O’Donnell.
A Sligo native, he found himself playing Super Rugby last year with Highlanders and Crusaders before signing with Canterbury this summer.
With his season coming to an end in around three weeks time this year has been “a bit frustrating” for him personally as he is currently left yearning for more game time, on the plus side, his squad have made it into the semi final of the prestigious National Provincal Championship (NPC)
“Everyone's happy to be playing and seeing the back of Covid though” he says.
2020 presented an alternative universe between here and the land of the long cloud and Conán was careful not to “over do it” on his social media given the contrast in restrictions. Such FOMO however also translates the opposite direction, especially come sacred days in the GAA calendar such as this.
A self confessed “superfan” of the Kent Park outfit, O’Brien avidly keeps an eye on the ongoings of the hurling championship and the jubilation that accompanies it.
“The last time they won some of the lads were sending me videos of the celebrations and it looked incredible. It's days like that you miss it” he says.
“It means so much to a lot of people. John Doyle, he puts his life and soul into the team, as do the likes of Bill O’Kelly Lynch who helped the underage system from the ground up.”
“So it’s really good to see them doing really well.”
Their opponents today were the “powerhouse” of his day of youth hurling and he predicts a “tough game” but is sticking his colours firmly to the mast prediction wise.
“I reckon Naomh Eoin will pull through in the end. If we can stop Mikey Gordon I reckon we can win by five to six points.”
“And then hopefully I'll be looking at the snapchat all night for the celebration videos.”