Stamullen man Burns making an impact in Grimsby

Stamullen is a place from where many talented footballers have emerged from over the years – Gaelic footballers mainly. The legendary Pat ‘Red’ Collier is from there. Collier was, of course, a vital member of the Meath team that won the Sam Maguire in 1967 and toured Australia the following year.

Then there were others too such as Cormac Murphy, who played for the local St Pat’s side and who won an All-Ireland SFC title with Meath in 1999. On the rugby front Niall Ronan went on to be capped at senior level for Ireland.

Another talented footballer from the area is Darragh Burns. He may well have made an impact as a Gaelic footballer with St Pat’s and Meath if he opted to go that route but soccer was always his game - and at 23 he has already achieved a quite a lot in is career so far.

One of his achievements is that he has managed to carve out a living as a professional in the game – on both sides of the Irish Sea. He has also played for both Northern Ireland and the Republic at underage levels.

The pacy winger/midfielder has played for St Patrick’s Athletic and it was while with the Saints he helped the club win the 2021 FAI Cup final. It was a memorable and dramatic occasion indeed for Burns and the Inchicore club. They clinched the trophy in a penalty shoot-out they won 4-3 in front of 37,126 supporters at the Aviva.

Burns moved to Milton Keynes for a time. It was a taste of life in the lower divisions across the water; the challenges, the realities involved. He went on loan to Shamrock Rovers and was eventually offered a chance to sign permanently for the famous Hoops. Instead he took up an offer to return to England and play for Grimsby Town – the famous Mariners – in League Two.

This season the Mariners, who were founded way back in 1878, are not going to be promoted. Neither do they have to worry about relegation. They sit in a safe mid-table position. So this has been a pretty middle of the road campaign for the club you might think. Well, yes and no.

While they haven’t powered ahead in the league as no doubt they hoped, the did achieve a result earlier this season that will go down as one of the greatest in the club’s long history – and Burns played a crucial role in making it all happen.

Last August they faced mighty Manchester United in the EFL Cup at their own Blundell Park. It was one of the great cup shocks of the modern era. The game finished 2-2 at the end of extra-time and went to penalties.

It takes a certain courage for a player to step up in such a scenario; to make the long walk up from the centre-circle to take a spot-kick. The scrutiny is intense. Real nerve and confidence is required. The onus is on the kicker to score.

Burns, who is a Man U fan, did just that not once but TWICE as the shoot-out went to sudden death. The end result of all the drama is that Grimsby won 12-11 with Burns’ second kick proving to be the winner. What a night for him. What a night for the Mariners.

The result may have spelled the beginning of the end for Manchester United manager Ruben Amorin who was sacked in January – it certainly didn’t help his cause.

The night he was brought low by a man from Stamullen who was in the famous black and white colours of the Mariners.