BY NOW, HE’S spent 30 years laughing at it.
Enda Stenson, three-time Connacht final referee, Independent Councillor for Carrick-on-Shannon and the current Leitrim county board chairman, found himself in a tight jam in the closing stages of the 1994 county final.
It was a year of years for Leitrim, Connacht senior champions for the first time since 1927. The interest spilled over into the club series, where Mickey Quinn and Declan D’arcy powered Aughawillan to the decider, looking to make it three-in-a-row.
For a time it looked as if the underdogs Allen Gaels might prevail. But a penalty from Peter Prior put ‘The Willies’ in front, 1-8 to 0-10 with the seconds ticking away.
Allen Gaels mustered up another effort and gained a free. What happened next is worthy of an opera in itself.
It was a tale of three Martins; Martin Flanagan was the full-back for Aughawillan. Martin Prior, their goalkeeper. Martin McGowan was the free taker for Allen Gaels.
A stalwart clubman, McGowan had nailed four from four on that day, but the regular cortisone injections he received that season was masking the pain from his dislocated spine.
While he had 100% accuracy right up to the final stages of the game, his frees were just about cresting the crossbar.
When McGowan struck the ball, the flight was true and perfect. Flanagan took a firm grip of Prior’s togs and once he jumped, pushed him as high as he could manage. In the footage of the game, you can see Prior’s shoulders almost level with the crossbar. He caught it, took it into his chest and cleared his lines.
⏩ Skip to 27 seconds ⏩ pic.twitter.com/Gt4bElCKg9
— Aughawillan GAA (@AughawillanGAA) September 5, 2019
A rugby lineout. Sacrilege!
Nobody had seen such a thing tried and, as such, surely it must have been against the rules. Prior then was then fouled and Stenson blew the whistle. Free out. The game ended soon after.
Allen Gaels players, supporters and officials felt mystified and hard done by. The sense of panic experienced by some was compounded with the fact that many hadn’t even noticed the skullduggery/innovation.
Some recovered their composure enough to let Stenson have it, nonetheless.
The funny thing was that a lot of Aughawillan people were so caught up in the drama they didn’t notice the lift. They had a tradition of watching the tape back in the local pub later that day, and that was the first many knew about it.
“If it was now, it would be all over Facebook and things like that, but there was none of that then,” says Stenson.
“There was absolutely nothing that could be done about that, and there’s still nothing in the rulebook to say that you can’t do that.
“You can do it, because there’s nothing to say you can’t do it. So there was nothing I could do!”
He continues, “Aughawillan, they were legends of their time. They were tough operators, I can tell you. What had to be done to win, would be done. And that was fine, there were no issues with that.
“They had their homework done. They could see the way Martin McGowan’s frees were – almost clipping the bar on the way over – so they got a man up into the air. And that’s what happened.
“And sure what can you say about it now, only that it happened and there was nothing in the rule book to prevent it from happening?”
A six times elected county councillor with Leitrim county council, Stenson has no party affiliation, other than to state he is a GAA man.
He’s the current county board chairman and proud of the fact that TG4 are back for the third time in his five year spell as chairman, to cover this Sunday’s final, between defending champions Mohill and Ballinamore Seán O’Heslins.
30 years ago, the attendance at the final was 1,500. There will be an expected 2,500 this Sunday, a measure of the improvement of facilities and the spectator experience, and how many more women and girls now are attending the games. Footage of the 1994 final reminds Stenson now of ‘a different Ireland’.
Having Leitrim centre-stage for their own big day is important to them.
“In our county, we don’t get a lot of publicity. A county final is as good a chance as anything. We had a very good county final between the same two teams three years ago, Mohill and Ballinamore,” says Stenson.
“And it was acknowledged on TG4 that it was one of the better games of football they had covered. They were very happy to do it and they are very happy to come back and do it. They came back last year and they are back again this year.”
He’s on the Croke Park committee that was set up to study how demographics are playing a role in participation, chaired by Benny Hurl of Tyrone.
Given the long-standing issues that might always surround Leitrim, it’s critical that Stenson is in that position.
“We know that Leitrim has more participants per capita, than any other county in Ireland. We have practically every young person who goes to school at National School level, playing football,” he points out.
“Our numbers are small and we have to get everyone playing, but that’s how it is.
“Now, things are difficult for rural clubs because a lot of young people want to travel now and what do you do about that?
“But there’s an extreme passion in Leitrim. The people there are extremely passionate about it, and that’s how it has to be.
“It’s probably the only thing we have! Like, Sligo has Sligo Rovers, different things like that. We don’t have all that.”
Occasionally it rises up in unexpected ways. This year, the ladies team had the notable achievement of beating Tyrone in the All-Ireland intermediate final under their smart manager, Johnny Garrity. They will now be a senior outfit in 2025.
In years past, Stenson had a friendship with the late, towering Leitrim writer, John McGahern.
The two would meet at cattle marts in Mohill, where McGahern would sup a pint in Luke Early’s pub and observe all human behaviour respectfully. In time, Stenson could identify the various characters moving through McGahern’s books.
“The undertakers, Garda, landlords, Sinn Fein men,” he laughs.
“He had a few bits and pieces of cattle, like many others. He stood out a bit. He was different, of course. But he was very respectful and he was among his people.”
And when it comes to county final day, that’s when Leitrim football people are among their people. As he wrote himself, ‘The day is the whole show.’
