Power, Noel
April 19, 2011A sense of shock and sadness prevailed throughout the area last Wednesday morning, 30th March, when news broke of the death of Noel Power, Kilbeg. A big man in every sense of the word, both on and off the field, he gained respect not only in his beloved Kill, but further a field and this was reflected in the massive turnout for his funeral as clubs were represented far and wide.
From the day Noel entered Kill NS to only the 25th January last when he travelled on the club sponsored trip to Croke Park to visit the stadia and its superb museum, football was foremost in his mind. Upon leaving Kill NS he went to Mount Melleray Seminary from 1943 - 1948 where his obvious skills were honed in this great Gaelic Football College. This led him to donning the black and amber of a now reformed Kill club in 1948 and the following year in '49 An Chill took on Sean a Phobail in the County Junior Football just days before Christmas in famed Fraher Field. The game ended in a draw and the replay was fixed for March 12th 1950. Like the first day, conditions were atrocious and Kill went down following a tight contest.
However 6 months later victory was Kill's as they defeated Ardmore in the'50 County Final and so Kill had the dubious distinction of winning and losing a county final in the same year. The following year in '51 we contested the senior county final (no intermediate in those days) but a late controversial goal sealed victory for Kilrossanty after the original game was a draw, where another late goal gave the Comeragh men a second bite of the cherry. It was deja vu in '52 as the green and gold denied us again with another trade mark late goal. Six years past before we got another crack at winning siliverware and De La Salle stood in our way this time. Again, you guessed it, 2 late points, got De La Salle out of jail to a force a draw and in the replay we were denied on a 1-5 to 0-5 scoreline. One wondered would our day every come as did Noel
During this time Noel was in the pivotal position "i lar na paric' and this stylish player, who could kick with both feet, a good fee taker to boot and with the drop kick his speciality, he soon came to prominence to the county selectors, and he was drafted in. We all know what happened in Walsh Park in 1957, but to quote a prominent paper their match report, "in attack Noel Power the tall player from Kill was the man who struck the blows that put paid to Kerry's hopes. Rarely has the stylish Kill man played with such deadly intent. There was method to everything he did and even when pitted against the prince of fielders Jerome O'Shea, the Waterford man emerged with his reputation intact".
While Munster Final success eluded them against Cork in '57 it would be 5 years later on, November 11, 1962, when Kill broke their hoodoo to finally capture the Conway Cup, when beating Geraldines. This turned out to be Noel's finest hour in the green jersey (one of the few to play in both jerseys). By the time '66 came around Noel was on the edge of the square (full forward) and he contributed to no small way to a well deserved and overdue county final success over Kilrossanty. This turned out to be his final game for Kill after 19 years service. During his time playing he won 2 Senior Football titles and 1 Junior Football titles and he played in no less then 11 County Finals including replays (3 Junior Football and 8 Senior Football).
Off the field he did his bit too. From 1950-60 he served as club secretary taking over from Billy McGrath in the process. In his tenure he was one of 7 trustees when Kill built their club hall in 1960 (one of the first in the county to do so) and officially opened in November 1960 by former GAA President Pat Fanning. He was the main driving force in this project and no doubt this was a great source of pride to him over the years with the Club he would often be seen wandering in to throw an eye on proceedings down in the field or at Portlaw, Dunhill, Fenor or Walsh Park.
Under the chairmanship of Sean O'Regan there was a huge presence for the Guard of Honour on Friday last as the 'Gentle Giant" was laid to rest. On behalf of the club we send our sincerest sympathies to wife Siobhan, son Brendan, daughters Ann and Una, daughter in law, Anice, brothers, sisters, granddaughter, relatives and friends.
Ar dheis de go raibh a ainm.
Courtesy of the Waterford News & Star
19th April 2011 Tweet
