Ex Mayo star goes the extra 22,000 miles for club
Cathal Freeman flew from Australia to London to tog with his Tooreen teammates as they beat St Gabriel's in the Connacht intermediate hurling championship.
When Tooreen lined out at McGovern Park in London on Saturday afternoon for their crunch showdown with St Gabriel’s in the semi-finals of the AIB Connacht intermediate club hurling championship, there was a surprise inclusion on the team-sheet.
Featured among the substitutes wearing the number 26 jersey was Cathal Freeman who for over two years has been based as a doctor in Australia. Dr Freeman flew from Melbourne to London on Friday and 24 hours later was pucking the ball around with his Tooreen clubmates who would emphatically beat St Gabriel’s by 22 points – 3-21 to 0-8 – to secure their place in the provincial final for an eighth consecutive time.
And while Freeman did not make an appearance in the game, the Flying Doctor from Down Under is said to be in “good shape” and has returned to Mayo with the team and will be available for Tooreen in next Saturday’s Connacht final against Galway champions Meelick-Eyrecourt which takes place in Dr Hyde Park at 1.30pm.
Freeman’s stay is only set to short however, and the former Mayo hurler and footballer will soon be completing his 22,000 mile round trip back to the land down under.
Tooreen’s victory in Ruislip on Saturday was the most impressive of all their recent victories over the London champions. They raced into a 1-10 to 0-3 lead after only 20 minutes and by half-time by already sixteen points ahead, 2-15 to 0-5.
