YOU FALL AND YOU GET UP AGAIN

St Brigid's star has known his share of pain at HQ yet his spirit keeps him coming back for more

- BY GARRY DOYLE

RUAIDHRI FALLON wants to love Croke Park after having so many reasons to hate it.

At 23, the St Brigid's and Roscommon defender already carries more history in Jones’ Road than most players twice his age. Some of it golden, much of it bruising.

Croke Park has given Fallon memories he would rather forget, moments that still wake him in the middle of the night, turning and twisting, replaying a single second on an endless loop. And yet, it is also the place where redemption now waits.

The 2024 All-Ireland club final loss to Glen still cuts deepest. St Brigid's had controlled the game for 55 minutes. Then one moment unravelled it. A turnover on the sideline. A hospital pass under pressure. Paul Cassidy's run. Conor Glass’s goal. The cup gone.

Fallon knows exactly how it looks from the outside. A defender caught, punished on the biggest stage. He does not hide from it.

"Oh, 100 percent," he says. "I'd be lying if I said there weren't many sleepless nights since then. Even now, you'd be turning in the bed and it would just pop into your head again."