Noel O'Leary

[lostinmayo]

So, Noel O'Leary has been cleared to play in the final, very lucky boy methinks. I know we all don't like him in Kerry, but this could have laid down a big marker for the future if he was banned for the final. I think the ref bottled it to be honest and if it was any other game besides the final he would have submitted a different report.

Lost opportunity here to really discipline players and the video evidence, you can't just get away with boxing a fella in da face like that even if it is Geragthy

[Attacking Wing Back]

Ya but the referee gave him a yellow. Thats afyter consulting with his linesman. If he changed his story or the report and said it was a red card it would mean that he'd say he had a useless linesman and the communication was poor. I think all referees dont like admitting mistakes. Anyway Id hate to see a player miss an all - ireland regardless of wherever his from. PS It will make it all the sweeter if kerry beat cork in the final with both masters and noel on board

[Mickmack]

Cant help thinking of Brian O Meara who missed out on Tipps final in 2001 ...... a gentleman

[lostinmayo]

i know what u're saying, but i think it was an opp to show everyone that they will use video evidence in future, it was obvious to everyone that he should've been sent off, regardless of whether ref admitted it or not, everyone know a mistake was made,

look at Styles, he apologised and is not allowed ref next set of premiership games, bit diff i know, but still

[Mickmack]

I think Owenabue should make a full statement on the matter.

'When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.'

That quote from Edmund Burke in 'Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents' has, in general use, come to be delivered as, 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.'

Over to you Owenabue

[buck02]

It makes a farce of the rules to be fair about it. Striking is striking and is deserving of a red card. I'm not sure how Brian Crowe can say that the yellow card was enough punishment, having seen a video of the incident.

I just wonder what'll happen should a Kerry or Dublin player get sent off for striking on Sunday and miss the all ireland?

Anyway, there was an excellent article about Noel O Leary in the paper on Sunday. I'll post it on this thread when/if I can find it.

[buck02]

FOR a moment Noel O'Leary was sure he'd got away with it. It was down in Tralee on a *ty wet Saturday night, Kerry had just beaten them, and towards the end he'd snapped. The Kerry boys had been winding him up all night and then Tomas O Se kicked the ball at him and O'Leary had gone and eyeballed him, lashed out, and picked up his second yellow card for his troubles. As he was walking into the dressing room tunnel, Billy Morgan tapped him on the back and halfgrinned, "Well done, Noel!" At that, inwardly, O'Leary smiled too. Someone understood. If anyone could, it was Billy. The sight of that green and gold jersey, the passion, the fury; sure he knew all about it himself.

And then? Well then when they were inside, Morgan closed the door and proceeded to give his wing back, as O'Leary so eloquently puts it, "an unmerciful fecking". In front of everyone. He shakes his head and grimaces bashfully at the memory, thought and accusation. Too fiery and volatile . . .

even by Morgan standards. "But he was dead right too, " says O'Leary. "I was a bit mad that night. A rush of blood to the head."

Admit it. It's how you know him, perceive him. There mightn't be a better attacking wing-back left in this year's championship or anyone on the Cork team more adept at playing that ball into Michael Cussen, but to you, he's that serial yellow-carder who keeps getting into scrapes. He'll probably take up Geraghty today and, well, it's hard to see both of them lasting the distance. But, as Dan might say, if you don't know him, don't judge him.

He's from a place called Cill na Martra, the second smallest parish in the biggest county in Ireland, a few miles outside Macroom, off the road to Ballyvourney, but as a kid he developed a passion for west Cork football and west Cork footballers more than 50 miles down the road. There was Castlehaven and Tompkins and Cahalane. And even though they were junior, there was Urhan and Ciaran O'Sullivan too. He remembers going with his father Donal as a 12-year-old to see them play Midleton in a county junior championship replay in 1992 in Ballingeary.

"I'll never forget it. The first day Ciaran was awesome. The second day he was having a brilliant game again when one of the Midleton lads turned round and made * of his nose. Ciaran was down for three or four minutes, blood pissing out of his nose.

Next thing, he gets up, the ball comes in and Ciaran grabs it underneath his own goalpost, goes straight up the centre of the field and shoes the ball straight on the '45 and splits the posts.

My father turns round to me and says, 'That man will be playing for Cork next year.'" And at that, his son vowed that's how he'd play for Cork too. Like Cahalane, like Ciaran. Blood and bandages, boy.

And that's how he played for them as a minor. With passion. Raw passion at times but passion, and when the Cork senior hurlers were presented with their 2000 Munster medals the same night as O'Leary and his colleagues were presented with their All-Ireland minor football medals, Diarmuid O'Sullivan, a two-time All Star even then, made a point of going over to O'Leary to tell him how much he loved the way he played the game.

A year later they were teammates winning an All-Ireland junior medal together, and a year later, on the senior panel, winning a Munster football championship together. O'Leary had to wait until he was 21 to break onto the starting 15 though. When he did, he did with intent.

"I thought, 'Feck it, a tougher attitude to this setup would be no harm at all. We'll try not to take any prisoners if we can.' I suppose I went a bit bald-headed into it though. Did a lot of stupid things."

Whatever about doing anything stupid, O'Leary managed to do something unique in that 2003 league campaign, picking up a yellow card in each of Cork's seven league games, and just for good measure, picking up two in the last game against Tyrone. But over the years he'd like to think he's tempered down that temper.

He's no longer the wild buck of 2003, though, he'll admit, some sort of red mist does seem to descend upon him when he encounters that green and gold.

And on days like that, he's reminded it's only a game, that there's more to life. And he'll agree. Yeah, it's a game, there's more to life, but what you must understand it's that game which has helped him get through the life he's had.

The first to go was Mark. They were cousins but more like twins; the same age, the same humour who'd "more or less lived with each other; him living up in our place or me down in theirs". Then, in January of '99, Mark and his girlfriend broke up and all of a sudden he was dead. Suicide.

"It was an awful shock at the time. Because nothing like that had ever happened to us before. But that was my first year with the Cork minors and the football was a great thing to have. It gave me something to turn back to."

O'Leary and Cork would win that year's Munster final, inspired by a magical display from another dynamic wing back called Tom Kenny, but a few weeks before the following year's Munster final, tragedy struck again.

This time it was Benny, his best friend.

"Benny, " he smiles, "Benny was a gas man. Strange, he had no interest in football but we had a bit of an old business going there. We bought a quad-bike between us, spraying weeds and spreading manure on farms for farmers. A couple of weeks before we played Kerry, there were about 13 or 14 of us out the back at home. Benny was spinning around on the bike. And feck it, it was a case of the two of us getting too used to that bike; we'd wear no helmets or anything like that, you know. And sure, whatever way he went across this little slope in the field, didn't the bike turn and fall on top of him.

"At the start we were saying to ourselves, 'This man is going to hop up now any second', because he was a bit of a joker, like. But we went over, and Jesus, when we looked at him he had gone blue in the face. Myself and my brother Ciaran tried to clear his mouth but it was no good." By the time the ambulance had hit Macroom, Benny was gone.

Again football offered some measure of solace and that summer Cork went on to claim Munster and then the All Ireland. O'Leary's eyes light up at the memory of it and old teammates. Some of them you've heard of: Masters and McMahon, the latter of whom will play with him in Croke Park today; Conrad Murphy, who was the best of the lot of them; Kieran 'Hero' Murphy from Erins Own. But then there were others who you mightn't have heard of. Paul Deane, Dinny O'Hare; "maybe not the most skilful but hard men and great lads as well." Only in the last year or two with the seniors, has he experienced a team chemistry and bond like the boys of that summer enjoyed. It was the time of their lives and should have been the year of their lives, but before 2000 was out it had been the worst of O'Leary's.

He'll never forget the game that was on the box that day: Glenflesk and Nemo in the Munster club final, and himself and the father watching Moynihan and Johnny Crowley trying to win it nearly on their own. But as the day and game went on, his mother was becoming increasingly anxious. Ciaran, Noel's 17-year-old brother, had yet to come home. There was no word from him or of him. Noel and his younger brother, Donal Og, told her to relax, reminding her that it wouldn't be the first time he'd have stayed over at a friend's. After the game was over though, there was still no word. They'd phoned Ciaran's girlfriend who he'd visited the previous night and she'd said he'd gone home.

"The father was saying then, 'God, maybe he was drunk coming home and fell somewhere. Donal Og, go into the shed and get our wellingtons and we'll go to the fields and look for him.'" Donal Og went into the shed only to find Ciaran already there. Same story as Mark. Seventeen. Just finished with the girlfriend. Gone.

"Definitely what happened to Benny was a big part of it. Ciaran was there when it happened and he used to get upset about it. He'd always be on about it at home. But in saying that, you wouldn't have taken much notice of it. I mean, it was natural enough he was upset about it.

"I think it was a pure spur-of-themoment thing. It and drink. In most of these cases that's what it is; a spur-ofthe-moment decision brought on by the drink. Looking back, Ciaran wouldn't have been the best to take drink. He was only 17, a bit of a wild lad but a good lad, but you could see that he used to get upset after drink."

That's why he'd tell anyone: know the people who don't react well to it.

Be there to tell them the one that's one too many, especially when that one might be the first. Be there to say hang on, everybody hurts, but it passes. It's maybe not the normal message or cause advocated by a GAA player, but O'Leary feels strongly about this.

So do his younger brothers, who hardly drink at all.

"A lot of people mightn't like talking about this, shy away from talking about it, but it's happening every day in other homes. People might learn from it. I have no problem talking whatsoever about it. Or Benny or Mark. It was an unbelievable run for us at the time, but it happened. It's a big part of who I am."

There's little O'Leary isn't upfront about. At times he might sound all bashful like Paidi O Se just like he plays like a young Paidi O Se but the 'Yerrah' response is not for him. There is a refreshing honesty as well as affability about him. In the tree surgery business he set up a few years ago, beating around the bush is kept to a minimum. It's the same in conversation. He cuts through the bull*.

The Cork under 21 team management during what he now calls the lost years, for instance. "It was the worst set-up I've ever seen. Selectors turning up late; poor locations, no tactics before games, no buzz in the camp. For them three years we didn't even threaten to win an All Ireland when we had the players to do it. In 2003 we ended up losing to Waterford. Rightly so. That was the game they parachuted Setanta [O hAilpin] and [John] Gardiner in for before the [senior AllIreland] hurling final. No disrespect to the two lads but they never trained with us that year while they were taking the places of fellas who'd trained all year. Sure that's not a team."

He'll accept his discipline could be better too. Okay, he doesn't think he should have been suspended for the Louth game this year, because as he showed the guys in Croke Park, that time in the Munster final Paul Galvin was holding and twisting his ankle . . .

"I'm not saying he was doing it intentionally" . . . and O'Leary was only trying to wriggle his way free. Then you push him on it.

"That was all though, Noel. You were just trying to get him off you."

"That's right."

"Genuinely, Noel."

He smiles. "Well, maybe there was a slight bit of a kickout too."

He'll be straight up about the support of the current senior team as well, or lack of it, to be precise. Last week Waterford lost their fourth AllIreland semi-final in the Justin McCarthy era and a country, let alone, county, nearly went into mourning.

Lose today and the Cork footballers will likewise have lost four semi-finals in six years, and yet the masses on Leeside will be indifferent to their plight. O'Leary is close friends with some of the hurlers, especially O'Sullivan, but as much as he wishes them well, at times he can't help but be envious of them.

"It's unbelievably disappointing, our support, even if we're long over it now. The hurlers get caught in a sticky situation and are down three points and the crowd roars them on which is a huge help to a team. We go three down and people just turn their asses to us. That's when we need them.

There's absolutely no doubt about it, if we win this All Ireland, it'll be for this panel of players and management team. I honestly think there's only about two or three hundred genuine Cork football supporters out there."

He'd love to win it for Morgan ("His head for the game is unbelievable.

And his passion. Even watching him giving speeches and seeing the veins start to pop; you'd be proud to play for a man like him"). For old teammates like Ciaran O'Sullivan who was probably as good as Moynihan but never seen as such because he never won that Celtic Cross. But as he says, mostly for the men around him each night in training. That's what it's about.

Right now, they're near and yet so far. They're only one game away from a final but the way they've been playing they seem a lot further away than that. Maybe the hurling snobs have a point; the team hasn't played with any flair; it's yet to cast off its inhibitions.

He'll admit that. But the 2000 minors should have lost in the first round to Clare. They went on and won the All Ireland. That team and this team have a lot in common. This crowd could go all the way too.

"Look, there's no doubt that if we play like we did the last day against Sligo there's no hope for us against Meath. They're playing a nice brand of football and seem to be able to find space all the time while we seem to be getting clogged up an awful lot. But we know the football we're capable of and the football we've played. It's going to come out some time again, hopefully on Sunday. [James] Masters is going to be a loss alright but the man himself, pure gentleman, said it openly in the papers that his injury gives lads like [Daniel] Goulding a chance and they might burn up Croke Park."

He'll feel for Masters today. This is about the only year O'Leary himself has been free of injury. A week after his championship debut against Limerick in 2003, his old buddy Diarmuid O'Sullivan gave him a clatter in a county championship game. O'Leary played on but he had taken the Ciaran O'Sullivan spirit to extremes . . . his ribs had been cracked, something that kept him out of the qualifier defeat to Roscommon. The following year in Killarney his medial ligament gave way; the following year against the old enemy in Croke Park himself and Conor McCarthy collided and he had to be taken off, and then last year, a viral infection from a very costly halfhour of sunbathing in La Manga kept him out of the starting line-up for the summer.

But he kept coming back, kept bouncing back up, kept walking on.

He knows no other way.


(Kieran Shannon, Sunday Trubune, Aug 19)

[KevinT]

The ref has decided that it didnt warrant more than the yellow card . That should be the end of it . In fairness it wasnt much of a punch and Geraghty tried to make a meal of it .Neither Geraghty or Coyle had a problem with it after the match .

[buck02]

kevint said:

The ref has decided that it didnt warrant more than the yellow card . That should be the end of it . In fairness it wasnt much of a punch and Geraghty tried to make a meal of it .Neither Geraghty or Coyle had a problem with it after the match .

"It wasnt much of a punch" - a punch is a punch is a punch!

[Owenabue]

Mickmack, I only just found out now. I won't give a statement on it either. See how yer boys get on Sunday and maybe ye might be hoping one or two of them won't be banned from the final.

[Johnnyb]

In fairness lads, to deny any man a chance to play in an All Ireland final would be criminal. Ok, he punched the man, but that same man got away with blue murder against Dublin (pardon the pun). Karma has a funny way of evening itself out. Also imagine if he had been banned, the rebel proganda machine would be in full tilt for the final. B Morgan et al would play the martyr card and suggest the whole thing is rigged, either by the media, the dublin county board or the Kerry men pulling the strings. But all that aside, I personally was delighted to hear he was cleared. Justice may not have exactly been served but at least its one less excuse for B Morgan.

[Mickmack]

A separate thread of articles by Kieran shannon would be great. He is brilliant.

Cant but feel sorry for Noel o Leary after reading that. Was Ciaran o sullivan the best player of the past 15 years not to win an all ireland. What a player. My favourite Cork player.

[madmac999]

Noel O'Leary is one of my pet hates... but i read the article that Buck02 posted in The Tribune on Sunday you can't help but kind of respect him cousin and brother both committed suicide and best friend died in front of him. Can only imagine what that must have been like. He has his faults and the red mist that comes over him when he sees the Kerry jersey is comical at times... but the fact of the matter is that he'll be a treat to whoever plays cork in the final...hopefully Kerry!!

[Owenabue]

Lads and ladies, yer going soft.
Or is it that playing Cork (hopefully says you!) in the final wouldn't be the same without him?

[diehard]

Striking straight red card very simple equation. Its completely wrong that now after donig what he has done gets to play in the final. How in the name of god can the ref say that he in retrospect say that he thinks his yellow was adequate.

[Mickmack]

twas the sly sneakiness of it that was the worst part. geraghty would have been proud of it

[diehard]

can you imagine the outcry had it been gerarghty that had done the punchin

[Owenabue]

Mickmack, there was nothing sneaking about it if you were there.... it had been going on for a while before anyone stepped in. Neither party was totally innocent.

[inforthebreaks]

maybe not owenabue but there we can only go with what was caught by teh cameras. Leary punched him straight in teh face and should have got a ban. he is a very lucky boy and benefited from teh fact that the cccc and c were afraid of doing their job

having said that it would have been tough on the fella to miss out on an all ireland appearance.

[Owenabue]

Just saying things aren't always black and white, and we all know RTE can be fairly picky about what they actually show in the replays. We'll presume the CCCC had more video evidence than that.

[victorybound]

I think that the yellow card was sufficient given the circumstances. Couldn't see Crowe going back on his decision and the precedent was already set from the Laois vs Offaly Leinster SHC QF that took place on the same day as the 'Semplegate' affair.

Excellent article by Kieran Shannon too btw.

[seamus]

Really can't understand it.
Did Noel O'Leary strike Geraghy? Absolutely 100%. Therefore he should get a ban. The procedures are there and it is clear cut, as is the fact that it is his 2nd one this summer which should make his ban longer.

[inforthebreaks]

plus he was sent off in the league wasnt he..

[Owenabue]

Yes against Kerry. Shur didn't Bryan Sheehan get sent off first that cold and miserable night in Tralee.

[buck02]

inforthebreaks said:

plus he was sent off in the league wasnt he..

He did v Kerry. He got a second yellow for having a go at Tom Se when the ball was out of play in front of the stand, just after Sheehan got put off.

I'm not sure where Owenabue is coming from here with "presuming the CCCC had more evidence than this". What more evidence did they need. That he was provoked? Since when does provocation excuse a player from striking.

Owenabue often speaks of drunken fans in the crowd ruining it for families with foul and abusive language. So its ok to accept striking in the field, but not bad language on the terraces.

To be honest I reckon that the CCCC took the decision that Frank would find a way of getting O Leary off and after the whole "anti Cork bias(?) they were accused of displaying in the Cork-Clare hurling game they couldnt upset the Rebel County again.

Thats my theory anyway. And my last word on it.

[seamus]

This is starting to bug me now. I accept the ref could have missed it or half saw it. BUT TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE VIDEO AND SAY THAT A YELLOW CARD WAS SUFFICIENT MAKES YOU WONDER IF BRIAN CROWE IS SUITABLE TO REFEREE AT ALL.

[Owenabue]

Buck02, I have never once defended any form of violence. I won't go on about the anti Cork bias or anything like that, I'm sure ye will have noticed that too from my posts. I was just saying that there was something going on beforehand, as there was afterwards as well. Yes on the video evidence we say on the Sunday game Noel did hit him. I won't act judge and jury for Noel O' Leary, that was up to the CCCC and the ref, and it isn't the first time this year they haven't been consistent. We have all been saying that, even before this and if you want me to be honest, I was surprised he got off. I was also surprised the Meath crowd described it a thing of nothing and handbag stuff, so I suppose they weren't looking for his head on a plate anyway so maybe that had something to do with it.
If you want me to sound really Cork like you could argue that someone broke Masters jaw and he hasn't got suspended....

[inforthebreaks]

if it wasnt geraghty he hit he might have got the ban, but weith geragty getting away with his belts on henry earlier in teh year that may have influenced them a bit.

[Owenabue]

Seamus, is it the first time that has happened this year? Of course it isn't. So maybe a revision of the rules may be needed.

[kerryman]

Yes he should be banned.
Yes Brian Crowe should ahve his position as an intercounty referee called into question.

But I am glad that Cork may well have a full squad for the final as I'm tired of listening to several friends of mine from Cork come up with excuses for losing matches. If they've a full squad then they've no excuses.

Fingers crossed that it'll be us that meet them in the final.