Caimin’s corridors – no place for the faint hearted

There’s a bit of tension evident around the corridors of St Caimin’s Community School in Shannon. None of this edginess is linked to any of the colleges students. It’s just that two of their teachers, David Forde (Crusheen) and Pat Gleeson (Na Piarsaigh) have had to endure an overdose of hurling talking this week and last.
The Crusheen wing forward teaches PE and maths in the school, while the Na Piarsaigh midfielder and UL student will finish his nine week stint of teaching practice in Shannon on Friday. He teaches Irish and PE. An hours hurling couldn’t separate the respective clubs in Thurles last Sunday meaning they have to head back to Tipperary this week. Which has meant another week of Forde and Gleeson having to put up with their teaching colleagues attempts to rise them.
“The staff room isn’t the biggest so there’s no getting away from him,” Pat Gleeson laughed. He denied though that he has been tempted to dip the shoulder when meeting David Forde, who is carrying a dead leg, in the corridor.
“Ah no, not at all. We’ll wait for Sunday,” he said.
Even with experience of building up to Munster and All-Ireland finals banked, hurling against a teaching colleague is a new departure for David Forde.
“There’s great slagging. There’s great staff here and they’re all into the hurling. They’re trying to hit us off each other. We’re trying to ignore it as much as possible!” he said.
“With the replay as well it’s brought it more into focus. There’s plenty talk about it,” Forde added.
With regard to his dead leg, the Crusheen half forward is hopeful that it will have softened out by Sunday.
“Hopefully it’ll be ok. It’s sore enough but I still have five or six days,” he said on Tuesday, adding that Pat Gleeson will surely be filling in the Na Piarsaigh management on which leg is the dead one.
“There’s no doubt. I’m giving him as little information as possible!” Forde joked.
Pat Gleeson is finding it difficult to dwell upon Na Piarsaigh’s epic year. They have followed up their first Limerick county championship win with a run to the Munster final, fielding what is a remarkably youthful team.
“The younger fellas we have, Dowling and Downes are very mature for their age. It doesn’t really faze them that much. They’re still our big performers. It’s been a great year and hopefully we’ll keep it going,” Gleeson said, adding diplomatically that he doesn’t think Semple Stadium is an advantage to his teams younger legs.
“A field is a field. It’s the same wherever you play,” he replied with a straight face.
David Forde wasn’t taken in by this show of diplomacy.
“They wanted to bring it down to Thurles,” he suggested, the tension rising a notch.
With that the duelling duo headed back to the staff room. Given that Pat Gleeson is teaching some of David Forde’s classes, they have to keep talking. Until Friday at the very least!