The day the crossbar broke

It happened 50 years ago: Seán Purcell's final game for Galway; Gerry O'Malley's most glorious hour for Roscommon interprovincial series, Seán Purcell, and he also made it clear that Galway vs Roscommon was a friendly rivalry once the final whistle was blown. Roscommon did not reach another All-Ireland final until 1980, a much talked-about clash with the mighty Kerry team of the Kingdom's 1974-'86 era. Ros' got an early goal; it took Kerry (without the injured 'Bomber' Liston) 15 minutes to open their account and all through a torrid tie, on a windy day, the Roscommon backs performed heroically â€Â¦ but Kerry knew how to win. After 1962, Galway retained three players from the losing All-Ireland Final team of 1959, Séam Meade, Mick Garrett and Mattie McDonagh. The great St Jarlath's Hogan Cup team of 1960 and the All-Ireland winning minor team of the same year would provide the nucleus of the wonderfully talented team which would go on to win the Three-in-a-Row. The 1962 Connacht final was the last time Seán Purcell wore the Maroon and White. Four other men who played on the losing team on the day the crossbar broke were not in the winning team on the day of the 1963 Connacht final against Leitrim, and would not play for Galway again: Brendan Glynn, Tom Magee (a Wicklow man then living in Ballinasloe), Frank Evers and Brian Geraghty. Ten years ago, on the 40th anniversary of the 1962 Connacht final, Brendan Glynn told me he couldn't ever understand why Frank Evers was taken off, and at the time â€â€ from his vantage point between the posts for Galway â€â€ he sensed in the closing stages that Gerry O'Malley was enjoying the freedom of the park. I went to visit Brendan at his home in Salthill, near the Prom, last week; he feels the same about it as he did in 2002: 'We were playing very well when the crossbar broke. It was a match we should have won.' Special thanks to Brendan and Dympna Glynn, Gerry O'Malley; Tony Conboy, author of the Roscommon G.A.A. history (publ. 1990); Fr Liam Devine, Gaelic Games columnist with the Roscommon Herald; and Gaelic Games historian and archivist Michael O'Donohoe, from Caherpuca, Ballyglunin, Tuam.