DAY 4
The morning after the night before. It was carnage. There was bodies and debris everywhere. Now it was like a scene from “A Bridge Too Far”. All we were missing was some fella playing “Abide With Me” on the flute!
No,it was not that bad. Surprisingly most fellas answered their alarm call and most appeared down for breakfast in reasonable shape. Then to pack the bags and load the bus. We managed to get Mark K’s bag on without calling in Midland Crane Hire. We never did find out what was in his bag except that we know that there were no shin guards!
We were on the bus and off at 9.30am. However there was no Paul. He was only brilliant to us all but we finally wore him down and he got a day off. Rumours that he was voluntarily admitted to an institution are understood to be untrue. He did not volunteer!
There was a small pit stop en route to facilitate a snowball fight and to allow Thomas McC opportunity deliver a load of sand. He would never be able to pay the excess baggage.We got through the airport with minimum fuss. A few tried to claim refugee status but it was made clear they would be immediately deported. So we all made it to the plane for our 1.10 local time flight. Paddy wanted to hijack the plane and have it fly direct to Ballinasloe but the crew and the rest of the passengers (including all of us) absolutely refused that prospect.
We landed safely in Dublin, found our bus and stopped off in Lucan for some grub. It was great to have a few spuds while Darren had second helpings of cabbage.
We got back to Athlone at 17.10. We never caught up on that ten minutes! We arrived home very tired but very happy. It was a great trip. It was a privilege and a pleasure to share the trip with such a great group of lads. They had a great football education and experience that hopefully will stand them in good stead for the future. Well done to one and all for a great trip full of great memories and stories only some of which,for legal reasons,can appear in this diary.
DISCLAIMER : Any reference to or resemblance to any person living or dead in this diary is purely intentional. |