Rebels Meet Their Match, Take Boston By Storm
- Aug 18
- 5 min read
With about ten minutes left in the Junior D Football National Championship, Raleigh Cu Chulainn led James Joyce GFC of Chicago by a score of 19 to 12. A couple of minutes earlier James Joyce had only been down by 2. After a tight hard fought game, the wheels appeared to have completely come off as the young lads from Chicago lost their composure conceding needless frees from stupid fouls and pointless dissent. Just as one of their players forgot to chew his food and choked on his dinner at the Yard House Restaurant the night before, so too was the club choking on the biggest game in their history. By all rights, the final and season should’ve been over.
The Joyces boasted a young athletic squad whose mission was to be shirtless as often as humanly possible. Lacking children, mortgages, or excess body fat, they were the kind of club that you could tell would only be Junior D “for now”. They sported all the makings of a higher level squad save the developed skillset only experience can produce. As Rebels Coach Henry Best told a Joyce player during their game Friday morning: “You guys are going to be ridiculously good once you hit puberty.”
True story about the Yard House. Out of the tournament, the Rebels congregated Saturday night for dinner. As they were leaving, they passed a table of Joyces enjoying a meal together. One of them began to choke. Seeing the danger, Rebel and national hero Joe Bradley sprang into action and applied the Heimlich to his one time enemy, perhaps saving his life.
With no Joe Bradley in sight Sunday afternoon, the Joyces had to grow up and dislodge this 7 point deficit on their own. Down but not out, the Joyces would dominate every kickout for the rest of the game. They banged over point after point until they were only down by one with about a minute left in the season. Raleigh attempted to adjust to being dominated at midfield with a short kickout. A Joyce jumped on the ball. On the far wing, #3 or 7 or 2 (really hard to tell on the Raleigh youtube stream) made a beeline for the goal. A couple of well weighted handpasses later and the ball was in his hands as he sped across goal and past the keeper to bury the game winning score. Pure cinema.
Their charmed journey began where the Rebels historic season ended: 9:20am Friday morning on Field C.
First Half (different people got different information, the Rebels were either tied, up one, or down one. In the opinion of this writer, I think the ref miscommunicated with our sideline and we were in fact down one)
Rebels: 0-4
Joyces: 0-5
It was easily the lowest scoring first half of the Rebels season. Even without goal-machine Pierre Massena, the Rebels dropped bombs on opponents throughout the second half of their season. In their entire undefeated Midwest run, the Rebels never trailed after the first few minutes of any game they played.
The Joyces were a different beast entirely. Athletic and smart, they covered space well and didn’t give up fast breaks. While their fullbacks were completely outmatched by the Rebels full forward line of a hobbled Pierre Massena, Mount Hunley, and the King Alex Bielfeld of Rochester, the Joyces managed to prevent any goal scoring opportunities. Unused to this level of defense, the Rebels struggled to convert possession into consistent scores.
The same could be said of the Joyces who had a hell of time getting anything going offensively aside from a number of beautiful turns by their fullforward #13 and some sloppy fouls (and some bad luck reffing on a slick surface) conceded by the Rebels.
The Rebels were amped at half-time. The message from sideline manager and coach for the day Cillian Flavin was simple: run at them and win frees.
Coach and half-back Henry Best told his team with some expletives we don’t need to immortalize here: “That’s a really good team over there and this is the most fun I’ve had playing football in years. Embrace the challenge, enjoy it, and leave it all out there.”
And run at them the Rebels did. And foul them the Joyces did. Time and again Kevin Clifford was dragged down just inside the two-point arch. And time and again the ball wasn’t advanced nor were cards handed out for persistent infringement. The Joyces did what any competent team would do if the ref won’t stop them, they kept fouling the most dangerous ball carriers as soon as they got momentum and before they could get in a dangerous position.
Nonetheless, the Rebels gradually pulled ahead. A long ball in to Pierre Massena to the right side of goal attracted the attention of both Joyce fullbacks. Mount Hunley darted in front of net and called for the ball. A floated handpass later and Hunley buried the lone goal of the game and one of the few goal scoring opportunities either team conceded. A while later, Kevin Clifford would have a chance of his own in front of net but was denied by the Joyces capable and heroic goalkeeper.
About halfway through the half, the winds of fate changed direction. For about ten minutes, the Rebels couldn’t win a single one of their kickouts. Some of it was that the Joyces had found a bit of extra fight after a well worked score. Some of it was the Rebels age showing against the Joyces youth. And a lot of it was just bad luck: a bad hop here, a ball slipping through the hands of a reliable player there. During this passage, team Captain Marc Massena dragged a Joyces player down from behind and received a deserved black card removing him from the game for ten minutes. A four point lead vanished and the Joyces were now in poll position.
But the Rebels battled back. Bringing the score to within two. For the last few minutes of the game, the Joyces were under siege. Unable to stop the Rebels full forwards from winning ball, they crowded the net and threw themselves in front of every shot. And by the tightest of margins, the Joyces survived.
Final Score:
Albany: 1-10 (lowest score by the Rebels this season)
Joyces: 0-15 (most scores given up by the Rebels this season)
It was a fantastic game to be a part of and tremendous fun: it was physical and hard fought without ever getting chippy or dirty. The Joyces were the best and nicest team the Rebels played all season. And we could’ve beaten them, but when margins are that tight the outcome belongs to the fates. And all weekend, they were smiling down on the young lads from Chicago.
After the game, the Rebels would raise their spirits by loudly disagreeing with a referee in a hurling game. After the kerfuffle, an Indianapolis hurler asked them what happened. This scholar and gentleman, Dylan Clarke, immediately captured the Rebels hearts and the team spent the next two days serving as his personal cheering section.
Scorers:
Kevin Clifford: 0-4
Stuart McMahon: 0-3
Chris Hunley: 1-0
Alex Bielfeld: 0-1
Jason Chicione: 0-1
Des Norris: 0-1
Game balls:
Tyler Wilcox
Dillon Flood
A special note of thanks to Pierre Massena, Mark Adam, and Craig Larsen for playing through injuries and Chris Hunley for flying cross country to give us a shot at extending the best season in Rebels history (for now).
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