Wheres me jumpa

I agreed to spend my Saturday travelling from Carlow to Dublin on a bus full of under 11 soccer players. Six of these players had been selected to be mascots on the day, which meant they would meet both teams and walk out with one of the teams.

The bus journey was surprisingly painless. Arrived in Dublin around 4pm and made a beeline for Fagans of Drumcondra. It was then the heavens opened up. For about two hours, there was torrential rain which caused the Tolka river to burst its banks.

Eventualy the news we were dreading came, the match was called off. The Tolka Park pitch was flooded also. Then came the tears. We got our bus back as quickly as possible. Jumped on at 7pm, expecting to be home pretty quickly. Little did we know that the drains around Dublin were giving in to the rain. It took us nearly three hours to get from Drumcondra to the M50. The M50 itself was also badly flooded, the roadworks here assisted the flooding.

Got home late last night, never drinking Guiness before a bus journey again:(

Read about the cleanup of the floods here.

Images can be found here.

Before we got on our bus, a/the marketing manager from Sunderland was also in the bar. He broke the news about the match being cancelled. However he also tried to arrange a meeting for the young’uns with the Sunderland team. This was a long shot which didnt happen but he suggested we contact him regarding a trip to Sunderland to watch a live game, play a game against their academy team and tour the ground.

It was a very nice touch and ties in with the way Sunderland go about their business. They really know how to make fans appreciated, ref: several moments involving Niall Quinn and his generosity.