Gerry makes dream Poc Fada debut
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There is something deeply satisfying and, even romantic, about a winning debut in sport, but as Gerry Fallon turned for home on Annaverna two strokes behind Brendan Cummins on Saturday afternoon, even he could not have predicted what the mountain gods had in store for him.
Having taken 51 shots to reach the three-quarter point, the Roscommon hurler looked about as unlikely a winner as anyone else in the 10-strong field, while back at the finish line they were preparing to hail a fourth successive Cummins' victory and his fifth in total.
If Fallon was nervous on the home stretch, he certainly didn't show it and nine strokes later he was gratefully accepting Corn Setanta from avid poc fada supporter and sponsor, Martin Donnelly, who once again took boxer, Bernard Dunne along for the ride.
'It's brilliant. I never thought before that I would win anything like this,' revealed Fallon, who was only runner-up in
th e Connacht qualifier. 'I didn't know what to expect but going across the mountain it didn't take long to understand what had to be done.'
For those who don't know 'what has to be done'-think golf with a hurl and sliotar, but without fairways or greens or any kind of terrain that might make life a little easier on the participants (or even spectators!).
The aim is to circumnavigate the course in the fewest pocs possible. Up mountains, down mountains, over the side of mountains, through bogs and gorges and that doesn't even take into account the biggest handicap of all - the weather.
On Saturday a gale force wind battered Annaverna, meaning Fallon's winning tally of 60 pocs was a long way off the 56 whacks Cummins' won with last year.
There are three turns on the course to bring the contestants around in a loop and by the first turn, Cummins' looked ominously poised, making it in 13 wind-assisted pocs.
Watching the Tipp star, it was easy to see how he has four titles to his name. He almost ends up doing the course twice, sprinting forward on every shot to tell his eager 'flagmen' where to position themselves.
By contrast, it naturally took Fallon a bit of time to settle as he turned in 15 strokes, but he held his own thereafter, reaching the next two checkpoints level with Cummins before eventually overhauling the champ on the last leg.
'The flagmen were great,' Fallon was keen to stress afterwards. 'They stood where I had to hit the ball and that was most of it.
'Thanks to all of the people who went up the mountain and supported me. It was brilliant to see so many people up there.'
While Louth was not represented in the main event, Voureen Quigley and Ronan Geoghegan acquitted themselves well in the Camogie and U-16 categories, which were won by Patricia Jackman and Noel Fallon (no relation to Gerry) respectively.
The Comortas Beirte was a bit of a procession, with Fallon and Cummins partnering up in the doubles competition which takes the lowest aggregate score of two randomly selected participants.
- John SAVAGE
