Last weekend, as their Tailteann Cup clash against Laois entered injury-time, a pair of goals from Carlow forward Aaron Amond rescued a draw for the Division 4 side.
However almost two decades ago at the same venue, his brother Pádraig repeated the trick during his minor hurling days with Carlow, before he committed to soccer in a career which saw him ply his trade in England for 13 years before returning to Ireland to sign for Waterford last January.
The 36-year-old has five goals to his name so far as Keith Long’s men sit in fourth in the Premier Division after three successive victories, but the decision to return home has also meant he is able to enjoy days like last Sunday in the flesh, something the striker missed out on while playing across the water.
“It was brilliant, delighted for him, he held his cool well!” said Amond of his brother, speaking at a Virgin Media press event. “I was at a couple of the league games as well. It was a brilliant weekend for Carlow hurling and football.
“They had a really good result against Kilkenny (a draw) in the hurling and for the footballers to go out, do the same last Sunday and claw something from the game when it looked like they were done and dusted, it was brilliant. It’s brilliant to be back to see those games in the flesh.
“The funny thing is that I scored two goals in the last minute in the same goal that he scored in last weekend. One of the hurling selectors was sitting behind me. He said afterwards that the last time the two of us were in Portlaoise, an Amond scored two goals in that net as well!”
Despite wearing the county colours at minor level, former Ireland U-21 cap insists his hurling days are over.
“I think that’s maybe where the league has pushed on even further in the last number of years,” said Amond. “Whereas before people mightn’t know if it was full-time or part-time, but now they know it’s a job. You get the odd person asking, ‘Will you go back and play?’ and the answer is probably not, no, even when I finish.”
After watching his brother score a brace last weekend, Amond will be looking to get back amongst the goals tonight when the Blues take on league leaders Shelbourne at Tolka Park, who they sit six points behind. After winning three on the bounce, including a victory against champions Shamrock Rovers in their own backyard last week, he feels improving their home form is key as the campaign approaches the halfway point.
“Someone said last week that we are top of the league for away form and [near the] bottom of the league for home form, which is not usually the way it is for newly promoted teams,” he added.
“If we can sort out our home form and build on that we could have a decent season. That [win at Shamrock Rovers] is the one that stands out for a number of reasons. That’s the standout victory of the season so far for us. We are a young team and we’re getting better and better each week and proving to ourselves we are a good side and can go to Tallaght and get good results. That should stand us in good stead for the rest of the season.
“We can’t get carried away with things or look too far ahead because if we do that, you will get knocked down off your pedestal very quickly.”
