photo credit: Kerry and Aislinn Leonard
realized they were suddenly on a Hot Tin Roof and- even though it’s more of a dog trick and beneath most cats- they were ready to play fetch after all. Two dramatic block downs from Clare defender Ryan Koppa finally sent the signal for all of the Cats to get out of the litter box and get moving.Clare offenders Caleb Hunnicutt, Jack Tuescher and Logan Kittle answered the roar and realized Brocach had, as a matter of fact, been peeing in their territory the entire time. But Brocach’s defense led by Bandits Alec Fortier and Brian Lynch decided to mark their territory just a little more by sending back Clare’s offensive charge again and again. Clare rookies Frankie “Gigantor” Gargano, Alan “Porcupine” Porcaro and Tom “Shake and Bake” Baker were suddenly everywhere. As the teams battled toward halftime, the atmosphere could not bear the energy put into it any longer and the rains let loose. Invigorated by the all-too-obvious metaphor, Clare decided to “rain Cats and dogs” onto the field themselves and move up the halftime score to Clare 2-2 (8) and Brocach 0-7 (7).
The weather circumstances were tenuous, at best, during a halftime extravaganza which featured MHC hurlers scrambling to pack tents and gear in order to avoid further rain. To this writer the purpose of this activity is unclear since all people gathered at the pitch were still perfectly dry at this point.
As the second half began, it was clear both Brocach and Clare’s halftime talk to their respective squads were written from the same MadLib script where you fill in all the “Verb” sections with words like “Haul Ass, Impose and Inflict.” Both teams roared immediately into action from the moment the whistle sounded and sliotar hit the ground. Brocach’s Shannon Meller grabbed the goal that had eluded them from the beginning. But Clare soon responded with their own goal which brought grins like a Cheshire, well, you know, to the entire team.
And as suddenly and dramatically as the game had begun, it ended in a crash of lightning which prompted the premature finish of the game with a narrow Clare 3-2 (11) victory over Brocach 1-7 (10), thus putting the Clare season back on track but leaving the Bandits mighty hungry.
The Cats seemed to be napping at first but quickly landed on all fours with incredible defensive clearing of the sliotar that likely spared one of their nine lives for another day.
The Bandits worked hard but couldn’t convert the initial momentum to their will and Clare’s back line continued to move the ball back initially to the half forward line.
But, as we know from physics, momentum increases as either mass or velocity increase and the sliotar velocity from Luke Papenfuss eventually extended to their midfielders who had apparently
**The game ended when the whistle blew midway through the third quarter. This game will not count as a win, loss, or tie for either team. See next page for further explanation.