Death of a legend

The size of the crowd at Mount Merrion for the church removal of Joey O'Meara last Tuesday was no surprise to anyone who knew him. Playing against Joey at Park Avenue in the 1970s was one of the most intimidating challenges in the game at that time. David Judge at Three Rock Rovers was perhaps a more complete international player while Stephen Martin, with his two Olympic medals was more successful, but no one possessed the presence nor commanded attention as much as Joey.

Joey was always tanned and lean and played with a proud arrogance that no other player even approached. He also possessed an enormous library of anecdotes. A Blackrock College boy, he was a big rugby fan, and a regular at Leinster's European Cup campaign in Donnybrook.

For younger hockey players coming through in the 1970s Joey was an impressive figure. One memory which stands out was when Ireland played Holland at Londonbridge Road in the late 1970s. Joey was as usual operating in defence when a very long overhead ball came dropping in on his head. The 40-yard flick drew a gasp as Joey controlled it before taking a step back. He stared down the pitch at the Dutchman who had launched the ball and sent it back the 40 yards plus 10 over the bemused visitor's head. In purely tactical terms it was a nothing ball: pure theatre, a crowd-pleasing, team-stirring spectacle.

In quite a short time the premature passing of Jacqui Potter and Joey O'Meara has left quite a gap in the game of hockey.