|
 |
You are > Home > Damien Fitzhenry
|
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Damien Fitzhenry
“AT BOOLAVOGUE as the sun was setting.” AllIreland Day 1996, Adrian Fenlon, Sean Flood, Damien Fitzhenry, Billy Byrne and Garry Laffan on song.
We do not say goodbye to Damien Fitzhenry.
He will be with us as long as the Blackstairs last.
He is a young man with his life and a great many years before him.
Even so, he passes into legend.
It is no reflection whatsoever on any one player or manager from Griffin to Jacob, Byrne to O’Connor, to honour one fact witnessed by hundreds of thousands over 15 years.
Damien Fitzhenry stood between Wexford and imminent defeat by unhappy fortune.
He did that not once but so many times that I cannot count them on memory.
All Ireland semi finals, quarter finals, Tipperary, Limerick, Kilkenny, Offaly, Galway, Cork, Waterford, Clare, Dublin.
When looking back it was not so much the saves of balls which would deceive a cat.
It was the goals he scored from frees through a lined goal and frequently as he galloped up the sod of Croke Park even as the whistle was in the referee’s hand.
Wham! Goal!
Our hearts soar! Could we now ask how often we would have felt a hoodoo, a hag, a persecution complex on our backs were it not for Damien Fitzhenry?
Indeed those years gave much more because he provided modest inspiration by word, example and deed.
Why wouldn’t he?
Every hurler who pulled on the purple and gold jersey was fortified by the certainty that the greatest goalkeeper of his era was in the last line of defence.
We wish him well and we fervently hope that the dread of all retired stars will take take him over, namely the absent roar of the crowds. In times of reflection I hope he will accept that the silent roars and the enthusiastic good will of all Wexford hearts here and across the world will always remain with him.
Main News Page |
Previous Page
|
|
|
|
