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Lee Keegan Recalls How Night On The Town Led To Him Playing 'Drunk' Vs New York

Lee Keegan Recalls How Night On The Town Led To Him Playing 'Drunk' Vs New York
Gary Connaughton
By Gary Connaughton
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It's fair to say that the GAA world stood up and took notice when New York beat Leitrim in last year's Connacht Championship.

The American-based side had long threatened to produce such a result, experiencing a number of near misses in previous years. While Leitrim were not at their best on the day, it was still a huge achievement for them to get a victory in the championship.

While New York have made serious strides in recent times, not too many people are expecting them to produce another shock when they face Mayo this weekend. Kevin McStay's men will enter that fixture as heavy favourites, but they will no doubt approach the task at hand in a professional manner.

They certainly won't have the same buildup that they did during one GAA game over a decade ago.

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GAA: Lee Keegan recalls playing Mayo game 'drunk' in New York

Lee Keegan was one of the most committed players around during his inter-county GAA career, but even he let his hair down at times during his spell with Mayo.

That included on one occasion back in 2012, when the team travelled to New York for a challenge match in between after the FBD League.

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In his latest column for RTÉ, Keegan recalled how he wasn't exactly in optimum condition for the match itself after being out on the town the previous night.

The New York trip is always a novel one even if the astro-turf pitch is hard on the legs. I played there twice in the Connacht SFC in 2014 and 2019.

Before that, we played a challenge match there in 2012 after winning the FBD League - a tradition which was knocked on the head long before the split-season would have rendered it a pipe dream in any case.

It would be a stretch to describe the post-FBD trip to the Big Apple as serious business.

To emphasise this, I think we were all drunk playing that game. We finished late - or should that be early - the night before. I arrived back into the hotel room at about eight in the morning and then played the full-game at 2pm in 30 degree heat.

I was young enough that I could still do it then. Although, James Horan had to check my pulse on the bus to see if I was still alive.

I emerged unscathed although Ger Cafferkey was a victim of the surface that day. He took a hit, landed on the deck hard, dislocated his shoulder and had to be rushed to the hospital.

You get the sense that the current Mayo squad will be having a somewhat earlier night ahead of the game this weekend.

It will certainly be a big occasion for New York GAA, who will enter the game with belief that they can pull off another big shock on home soil.

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