‘They wanted to win for Richie’ Kildalkey's final victory title dedicated to coach who meant so much to them

Tears and joy. Sadness and delight. Seldom can a camogie game have ended in such a welter of mixed emotions as was witnessed when the final whistle sounded to bring the Meath Intermediate Camogie final to a conclusion at Ashbourne on Saturday.

The game was the fulfilment of a fixture that had to be abandoned last month when, shortly before the game was due to get underway, Kildalkey coach Richie O'Donnell collapsed and passed despite desperate efforts to save his life. A family man Richie was only in his late forties.

On Saturday Kildalkey won the final (against Trim), 1-8 to 1-3, and at the final whistle there was a massive outpouring of emotion as players and members of the management team hugged each other while in the stand supporters, some clearly overcome with emotion, watched and clapped in appreciation of what the team had achieved.

The Kildalkey manager Vinny Kavanagh had coached the team with Richie who he described "as a dear friend of mine." They had collaborated in guiding other teams over the years including Meath underage camogie sides, and with considerable success too. "The girls really, really played for Richie today," he added.

Manager Kavanagh was anxious to pay tribute to all those who wished the team well. He pointed to the immense contribution of his backroom team including Sheelin Bird, Daniel Brown, Kevin Gilsenan as well as those who stepped in as coaches and mentors - Stephen Masterson, Dunny Colhoun and Phillip Lyons.

"They came in the last couple of weeks to help us out in the training because it was very hard to pick the girls back up after the passing of Richie but the players made a huge effort. The effort showed in the way they won the game today. They wanted to win for Richie."

The referee for the original fixture, Michael McDonagh, was once more in charge of the game on Saturday. He had sought to revive Richie when he collapsed, performing CPR on him. "Richie was a lovely man, we used to share a joke and a laugh when we met at games. We had a laugh in Athboy, like we usually did. Two minutes later Richie collapsed and passed away."

Richie O'Donnell. A man who certainly will be missed by those who knew him well.