Irish get traditional thrashing

For 100 years the Scots' Celtic cousins have made the trip to our fair shores to get a shinty lesson sCOTLAND 15-7 Two goals, one point Goalscorers - Storey, Maloney Points - Rigney (1) IRELAND

ONE hundred years ago a troop of Irish Dragoons - hurlers to be accurate - took the local lifeboat out of Belfast, up the Clyde, and into the Broomielaw to encounter the locals in the first ever match of this unique sport.

They played at Parkhead - courtesy of Celtic FC, a club with a foot in both camps - and the Dublin Bhoys retired some hours later to lick their wounds, having been at the wrong end of an 11-2 howking delivered by the lads from Cowal! Intelligence from the east end of Glasgow tells of a very riotous evening. And so it has continued intermittently down through a century riven by political difficulties and World Wars. But, happily, the present series which began in 1993 at senior level has settled into a sequence of fiercely contested affrays which Ireland have yet to win. So, in sunny Inverness the "clash of the ash" was played out in age-old traditional fashion - 14 Celts aside - the broad-based hurley versus the slimmer elegant caman. But the outcome was the same. A Scottish victory fashioned out of no small skill, uncompromising vigour and total commitment. This is a remarkable Scottishsuccess story, little regarded by most of its sporting brethren and contemporaries but properly acknowledged by its Irish opponents. The victory by 15 points to seven was comprehensive and owed its origins to an opening goal by Ronald Ross after a couple of minutes. The great Ronaldo himself was to lay on a simple chance for Victor Smith within a couple of minutes of half-time. A mazy bewildering run stretched the Irish defence and the straightforward pass was tapped home by the Fort William forward. Between these goals, Dougie McIntyre had blasted home a magnificent 35 metre strike from a set piece. These three first half goals were supplemented by points from the combative James Clark, whose all- round game was symptomatic of a rock-like Scottish defence in which Kingussie's David Borthwick excelled with the deftness of his touch and the vision of his game. Ireland - 14-0 down at half-time - benefited from the blustery wind in the second half and finally found the net with late second half goals from Martin Storey and Niall Maloney. The prodigious Niall Rigney from Laois finally found his range and put one immense effort between the sticks. Happily, the crowd at the Bught was large and enthusiastic in the extreme, and it was their good fortune to see something of the spirit of this ancient Celtic rivalry - sporting, hard, and scrupulously good natured. And so to the Town House in the heart of Inverness where the huge Irish party - over 120 players had flown in - celebrated a very special Gaeli occasion. The history of the setting too was extremely apt for it was in the Town House in September of 1921 that Lloyd George and Winston Churchill presided over the only British Cabinet meeting ever held in Scotland. Their role was to considerEamonn de Valera's initiative to conclude the establishment of the Irish Free State. Before the end of the year the birth of the Republic of Ireland was to take place. For many of the Irish party the documents displayed in the Town House were a tangible piece of their country'shistory. It was a night of reflection,however, on the rather more recent history of how a small Scottishshinty community can continue to defy the might of Irish hurling. The Glenmorangie Quaich which stayed in Scottish hands was also the subject of some reflection!

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