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Fifteen years

Peter Goulding

Friday, September 16th, 2011

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Fifteen years? It cannot be
since Goughy took an early bath
and Shelbourne’s long Cup Final path
seemed sure to end in misery.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Is it really all those years
since Shero’s most audacious chip
righted Shelbourne’s listing ship
and wiped away my young son’s tears?

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Can it really be so long
since Goughy kept St Pats at bay
and pushed the penalty away
when we all feared he would guess wrong?

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Have fifteen years slipped quickly by
since Sparky ran out of his skin
and crossed and Geogho swept it in
to send us on a massive high?

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Years of laughter, years of tears.
My young son now is fully grown
and has a young son of his own.
And Shels have gone from light to dark
but still we come to Tolka Park.
What happened to those fifteen years?

© Peter Goulding 16th September 2011

Notes

The Shels bar recently showed a re-run of the two games that comprised the 1996 FAI Cup Final. In the drawn game, Shels keeper Alan Gough was sent off and we had no keeper on the bench. A goal down, a wonder lob from Tony Sheridan late on earned us a replay. In the replay, at Dalymount Park, Pats were awarded a late penalty with the score on 1-1. Goughy pushed it round the post. From the resulting corner, Shels broke upfield and scored.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/fifteen-years-2/