COMMENT: Lots of cards but not a whole lot of loving in Kildare's Valentine's clash

It was probably right and proper that referee David Gough arrived in Newbridge on Saturday ready and willing to hand out as many cards as he possibly could due to the day that was in it as he did his own impression of local  postman Seanie Duane. 

Now while there are no concerns over the fitness of Mr Gough and the ground he covers it is doubtful though if he covers as much as Postman Seanie, or indeed at the same pace but then this Newbridge postman also doubles up as a whistler.

Amid all the wind, the rain, the snow and everything else that was floating around Cedral St Conleth's Park on Saturday, there was one thing that was definitely lacking.

A bit of loving.

Saturday was, after all, for those of you who may have missed it, Lovers Day, aka Valentine's Day, although I have to say one would never have guessed it amid the chaos that was on view in Conleth's.

Not a sign of a rose.

Not a sign of a box of chocs.

Not a sign of anyone going down on bended knee to pop the question.

But still, Mr Gough did his best handing out cards quicker than Beckie and Cathrina were dishing out pints in the Cedral Lounge before, during and after Saturday's big game.

And it did not take long for the whistler from the Royal County to get in on the act.

We were a mere six minutes in when the man in the middle went to his back pocket and produced a surprise red for Derry captain Conor Glass,  the first card of the evening had arrived.

And keeping in tune with the day that was in it, the card was  a bright red colour, that enabled the midfielder to head to the dug-out, relaxed in the knowledge that  he, Mr Glass, would not be responsible any longer for damaging  a pitch  that was cutting up quicker than Mr Gough was handing out cards.

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In fairness to the réiteoir he did his very best to get as many players off the playing surface as quickly, and as often as he could, some for ten minutes but others for a much longer period.

At one stage the man in the middle had to only  keep tabs on 26 players, the visitors with just a dozen players on view, with the hosts down to 14.

Imagine how the pitch would have looked if there were 30 players, (plus the official) on the turf throughout the entire game.

So there is much to thank Mr Gough for in that regard.

That seemed to be the plan, God knows even the journalists, local, visitors and national, were given a sort of a  yellow card before the throw-in , being informed they  were not, under any circumstances,  to dare conduct any after-match interviews on the pitch after the final whistle.

The warning came from one of those lads wearing a yellow, or was it orange, bib. 

It was the Kildare Co Board's version of the  ICE brigade and I can tell you something, and  I would like you all to keep this to yourselves, but  the scribblers were shaken, wondering if they stepped over the white line would they be carted away and maybe not released before the Royals make a return visit to St Conleth's Park in two weeks time, they being the last side to grace the then excellent playing surface before the Kildare stadium got the big makeover.

The Royal players certainly won't recognise the place when they come back, well they certainly won't recognise the playing surface, and that's for sure.

We have gone from having a pitch  second to none in a stadium that was not fit for purpose, to a spanking new stadium but with a pitch that is, well, we won't spoil it for The Royals.

In the end after the cards had all been handed out, the visitors went away with a lot more than red and yellow cards, they went home with two precious points. Despite having looked at half-time like they would be scurrying back across the border with nothing but lots of muck on their boots from the surface of St Conleth's Park.

So another Valentine's Day has come and gone.

But this one, at St Conleth's Park anyway, without love, without any roses, without any chocs.

Still, there's always next year!

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