Anthony Rainbow's Farewell Game - Nov 20th

[AZOffaly]

Great article by Darragh O Se in the Times today :

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/1124/1224284026468.html

Enjoyed this bit :


"Peter Canavan! Seeing him again! Class is permanent. Watching him in Newbridge I was gaping. Selling the dummies, the timing, the bravery. He told me before the game that if he pointed left it meant he was going right and vice versa. The heart sank. How could us poor Kerry fellas ever have beaten him if he was playing by mirror all those years. Who knew?

Best moment? Peter the Great gave me a pass. I gave it back. The beauty of it was that there was three fellas closing in on him when he got it back. I hold it against the Kildare players involved that he wasn't killed outright.

All I can say to Kerry people is that I did my best."



Sounded like a good day's crack ...

Very good article. A bit poignant too when you think about it.

I like the bit about Micko being cute as ever. Very quick to bring on subs when they were needed, and very slow to bring off the men they were replacing

[Hardy]

Darragh's stuff is much better than the usual ghost-written players' columns. I presume this is ghost-written as well - it reads like professional writing - but it feels authentic.

[Family guy]

Fair play to him,seems a fairly dead on old skin then

[ross matt]

Great article by Darragh O Se in the Times today :

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/1124/1224284026468.html

Enjoyed this bit :


"Peter Canavan! Seeing him again! Class is permanent. Watching him in Newbridge I was gaping. Selling the dummies, the timing, the bravery. He told me before the game that if he pointed left it meant he was going right and vice versa. The heart sank. How could us poor Kerry fellas ever have beaten him if he was playing by mirror all those years. Who knew?

Best moment? Peter the Great gave me a pass. I gave it back. The beauty of it was that there was three fellas closing in on him when he got it back. I hold it against the Kildare players involved that he wasn't killed outright.

All I can say to Kerry people is that I did my best."



Sounded like a good day's crack ...

Very good article. A bit poignant too when you think about it.

I like the bit about Micko being cute as ever. Very quick to bring on subs when they were needed, and very slow to bring off the men they were replacing

That's a brilliant article. Well done on posting it.

[heffo]

Darragh's stuff is much better than the usual ghost-written players' columns. I presume this is ghost-written as well - it reads like professional writing - but it feels authentic.

Humphries writes it.

[heffo]

Great article - sounds like an excellent send-off for Rainbow

[armagho9]

Reading Darraghs book at the minute, good enough read.  Does not seem to say a bad word really about anyone so far anyway.  Sort of talks up just about every player he has ever faced and also about the nice guys they are.  Suppose its better than being controvarsial for the sake of it or just to sell books.

Thought it his bit about McGrane and John Bannon in the article was good, was he getting a dig in at Bannon about 2002?

[Hardy]

Darragh's stuff is much better than the usual ghost-written players' columns. I presume this is ghost-written as well - it reads like professional writing - but it feels authentic.

Humphries writes it.

Ah - thanks. Obvious when you know.

[Puckoon]

Cracking article - thanks for posting that.

[ONeill]

Very Humphries-esque. Lots of short sentences.

Like this.

And this.

Shorter.

Enjoyable though. Canavan could still tog out for Errigal.

Next year.

Maybe.

[upmonaghansayswe]

They might want to rethink the new jerseys! 

Took three separate viewings before the whole rainbow thing clicked..

[rrhf]

Darraghs articles make great reading. 

[Donnellys Hollow]

Smiles and handshakes at the end of the Rainbow

http://www.kildare-nationalist.ie/tabId/205/itemId/6760/Smiles-and-handshakes-at-the-end-of-the-Rainbow.aspx

Last Updated Nov 2010
By: TCM Editorial
IF for some reason you landed in St Conleth's Park last Saturday without ever previously seeing a game of Gaelic football and were asked to pick out who the farewell match was for, the sprightly looking number 11 on the Kildare team would have been a long way down the list.
After all, the boyish good looks are still there and in a game of the current Kildare squad against the old masters, he looked more at home with the younger players than the veterans.

But time waits for no man, not even the Peter Pan of Kildare football, and last Saturday Anthony Rainbow pulled on a Kildare jersey for one last time. And what a jersey it was, the specially commissioned jerseys were emblazoned with Rainbow's name on the back and with the rainbow colours down the sleeve.

It takes a special kind of player to be so highly thought of outside his own county.

Seamus Moynihan, Darragh Ó Sé, Peter Canavan, Graham Geraghty and many more came to tog out for a team managed by former Kildare boss Mick O'Dwyer.

Micko also enjoyed his time back in Kildare and after the game spoke warmly of the man who he first brought into the Kildare squad as a teenager.

"He is one of the greatest servants that Kildare ever had," said the Kerryman who went on to say that Rainbow was always one of the first names on his teamsheet.

"Without a doubt, he was straight out there at left half-back, there was no doubt about that, he was totally reliable."

There were well known faces all around and before the game started Mícheal Ó Muircheartaigh's familiar voice boomed out over the tannoy system as he read through the teams.

The game itself, although not exactly serious, was thoroughly entertaining fare. With Rainbow pulling the strings at centre half-forward, the first quarter was all Kildare's and Willie Heffernan's goal helped them to a 1-3 to 0-1 lead, Rainbow helping himself to the first of four points on the day. Rainbow could even have had the goal when Éamonn Callaghan and Fionn Dowling combined to set him up in front of the posts but he passed off for Big Heff to score.

Seeing the veterans struggle, Killian Brennan was introduced as a "16th man" and the game evened out.

A forward line containing Peter Canavan and Stevie McDonnell, even at this stage of their lives was always going to cause problems but it was corner-back Aidan O'Rourke who got forward to score the goal that helped the veterans into the lead.

Cananvan netted a second goal before the break and the veterans led by four at half-time.

The teams were back to 15-a-side for the second half but with Kildare boss Kieran McGeeney starting to look like the man who led Armagh to All-Ireland glory once again, the veterans took charge with two Graham Geraghty goals. Such was the day that was in it, even the Meath man's efforts were appreciated by the crowd.

"That was probably for one day only," he laughed after the game.

Rob Kelly and Heffernan scored late goals for Kildare but although that wasn't enough to get Kildare back into the game, 4-15 to 3-16 the final score, there were smiles all round at the end, particularly when Rainbow was substituted with four minutes to play. The game was held up for a couple of minutes as players from both sides rushed to shake his hand and scarcely can a standing ovation from St Conleth's Park been more deserved.

[AZOffaly]

Seems like a great day, and well deserved.

By the way, I see big Willie Heffernan scored 2 goals!! When is that man going to be recognised in Kildare?

[Etienne Lantier]

Very Humphries-esque. Lots of short sentences.

Like this.

And this.

Shorter.

Enjoyable though. Canavan could still tog out for Errigal.

Next year.

Maybe.

You forgot a dog barked in the distance...