{"product_id":"the-last-ditch-gaa-the-fear-and-one-man-s-long-road-to-croker","title":"The Last Ditch: GAA, the Fear, and One Man’s Long Road to Croker","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A BOOK THAT \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eENTERS THE \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eGAA CANON' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTHE 42\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A MAGICAL-MYSTERY \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eTOUR OF A \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eGAA SEASON' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIRISH INDEPENDENT\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A cracking read ... \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ea championship season \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eas redemption song.' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eMICHAEL CLIFFORD\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"All the tension of a tight \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eknockout encounter ... one \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eof the books of the year.\" \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eMIKE McCORMACK\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwenty‑one years on from his bestselling \u003ci\u003eThe Road to Croker\u003c\/i\u003e, sportswriter Eamonn Sweeney set out to follow the All‑Ireland championships around the country once again. But there was one problem. To make the journey, he would have to confront a secret fear that had quietly shaped his life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the pitch, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Ditch\u003c\/i\u003e captures the drama of a hurling season for the ages and a football championship that tested even the most loyal supporters - a landscape of unlikely triumphs, renaissances, shocks, cliffhangers and heartbreak.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOff the field, it becomes something deeper: one man's reckoning with middle age, masculinity and a crippling travel phobia that for two decades had dictated the span of his quiet, rural existence. As he moves through towns, terraces and conversations, Sweeney discovers not just the unifying spirit of the GAA, but the possibility of reclaiming a life he thought he'd lost.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBoth an unforgettable sporting odyssey and a profoundly human memoir, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Ditch\u003c\/i\u003e is a testament to how in Ireland, when all else fails, the GAA brings us home again.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Eamonn Sweeney","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57072298066185,"sku":"9781399734714","price":11.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0939\/6181\/4281\/files\/9781399734714.jpg?v=1779277616","url":"https:\/\/bookstation.ie\/products\/the-last-ditch-gaa-the-fear-and-one-man-s-long-road-to-croker","provider":"Bookstation","version":"1.0","type":"link"}