Passage to mark 40th anniversary of 1983 county intermediate football title

Tomorrow night will see a special celebration in the Billy Cotter Pavilion at Passage GAA Club as the 40th anniversary of the 1983 IFC win is commemorated.

All members, past and present, are invited to come along and celebrate the club's greatest team. The journey began in 1979, when Passage had a hard-fought win in the final of the Seandún JBFL Ballinure. At that time, it would have been beyond credibility to suggest that, just five years later, ten of thosee Passage players would be playing against a star-laden St Finbarr’s in the semi-final of the 1984 SFC. After all, the team comprised local lads who had never played higher than B-grade under-age football. However, this is exactly what happened.

Under the inspirational guidance of the late Brian Geary and Terry Howard, the Passage footballers went on a five-year odyssey that few teams in Cork have ever matched.

In 1980, Passage sprung a mild surprise when they beat Delanys in a replayed City JFC final on a waterlogged Ballinlough pitch. Another draw ensued after a thrilling game against Aghada in the county championship but, unfortunately, Passage were short three key players for the replay and they were narrowly beaten.

There were great hopes for 1981 but the team were beaten by St Nicholas in the city final. The accepted view was that the bubble had burst for Passage but this proved to be far from true.

In 1982, Passage turned the tables on St Nick’s to capture the city title and they carried that momentum into the county championship. First up was a harbour derby against a highly rated Shamrocks in Minane Bridge but Passage showed they were a serious outfit when they blitzed the Carrigdhoun champions, restricting them to just a point.

Another hotly fancied team, O’Donovan Rossa, awaited in the semi-final but Passage again prevailed, by a margin of three points in Ballinspittle. Passage were now in a first-ever county football final, with red-hot favourites Knocknagree as their opponents.

The final was played on a cold, wet, miserable December day in Cloughduv and it was not a day for fancy football. Once again, Passage showed they were up for the battle and created history by fashioning a one-point win, 1-4 to 0-6.

In 1983 saw Passage venture into the unknown territory of intermediate football. The West Cork venue of Aughaville saw the team make their intermediate debut against Adrigole and after a slow start they progressed to the next round by a margin of ten points.

The ‘reward’ was a clash with title favourites, Grange. Bernie Meade, who had retired after the junior county final, was persuaded to re-join the team and this proved a critical decision. On a sweltering day in Riverstown, Bernie in his usual full-back slot was opposed by the Tyrone, Ulster and All-star footballer Damien O’ Hagan but to say the Passage man outplayed him would be an understatement.

With Kevin O’Reilly in scintillating form at half-forward, Passage produced a display for the ages to win by ten points. The semi-final against Midleton was a hard physical contest but once again the team were well up for it and a late point by minor player Paul Maxwell earned Passage a place in the final.

After 1982, O’Donovan Rossa had moved up to intermediate and Passage would renew acquaintance with them in the final. In a very low-scoring game in Ballinspittle, it all came down to a dramatic finish. Passage free taker Kevin O’Reilly was entrusted with a free from the right-hand side line which had to be converted to earn Passage a replay, 0-7 eachh That he succeeded was down to an ice-cool nerve and brilliant kicking ability.

The replay was a tempestuous affair with Passage, as in the drawn game, finishing with 14 players but victory was to be theirs.

The vital score was a fisted goal by the late ‘Big Jim’ O’Sullivan and in a tension-packed ending, Passage held on to win on another historic day by 1-6 to 0-7.

If the intermediate grade was new territory for Passage, senior was a whole new world. Beara were dismissed with ease in the first round before a 0-10 to 0-6 win against Millstreet.

That set up a quarter-final clash against St Nick’s, which showed the remarkable progress the team had made.

For many years, Passage found the northsiders’ junior team hard to beat yet in Páirc Uí Chaoimh they demolished their senior team by 11 points, 4-9 to 1-7. Amazingly, they were in the semi-finals.

In the last four, Passage faced a Barrs team which included eleven players who had played senior championship with Cork, yet it took a late goal by the great Jimmy Barry-Murphy to separate the teams. Unfortunately, the next couple of years saw the team decimated by emigration but this great team will never be forgotten in the history of the club.