For the Hibernians, it was a baptism by fire.
No one expected the Allentown Hibernians to win their first hurling match ever. But in the new team’s debut Sunday against the Philadelphia Shamrocks, they sure made it interesting.
The Shamrocks finally put the team from Lehigh away, 1 goal and 4 points to the Hibernians’ 1 goal and 1 point.
(In hurling, a goal equals three points. It is scored when the ball, or sliotar, sails into the net between two uprights. A single point is scored when the ball goes over the net but between the uprights. So another way of looking at the score is: 7-4.)
The Shamrocks’ team captain Frank O’Meara likes to win, but he was nonetheless pleased to see a new team come out on the field with such fire and give his players a real run for their money.
“They did very well,” he said. “I was very impressed with them.” More important, he added, they seemed impressed with themselves, and their fine performance ought to encourage them to keep learning and refining their game.
Not bad for a bunch of athletes who, not all that long ago, wouldn’t have known what a sliotar was if it smacked them in the head. (They know now, though, I bet.)
The Hibernians will get another chance at the Shamrocks on Sunday, June 1, part of a round-robin tournament that could include a team from D.C.
As for the team from Allentown, their first hurling match left its mark.
The Hibernians’ Chris Farrell, who was making something of a reputation for himself (albeit involuntarily) for injuring his teammates during practice, got a taste of his own medicine Sunday on the field at Cardinal Dougherty. “Before the game (teammate, no relation) Joe Farrell told me they had taken to calling me “the hatchet man” because of the injuries I’ve caused in practice,” Farrell said. “Ironically, I took the chop during the game when one of the Shamrock players chopped right on my knee joint with his hurl, following through on a shot that I was just a split second too late for (apparently). Hurts like hell and it’s pretty swollen today, but I don’t think any permanent damage was done and I will be back to fight another day.”
O’Meara, for one will be heartened to see them back out on the field. It’s tough keeping this native Irish sport going here in the States, but with the addition of an eager new team—and continuing dedication on the part of the 20 Americans on the Shamrocks’ team—”the thing is going to purr like a kitten. And we’re going to make sure that it does.”
