Pitch at Cherry Orchard

The coast road to Erris winds north after Mulranny, following the shore under Claggan Mountain. In the old days, a few farmsteads had fields and potato ridges on some small tongues of land between road and shore. On one of these, a soccer field has been created, barely the size of a tennis court. On one side, a low wall separates the pitch from the rocky seashore; on the other,the margin is occupied by the blades of yellow flag iris. In the background there is shelter from the trees dating from the times of a ruined cottage.
The bulk of the trees are cherry; high up, the fruit are already an intense red; lower down, still pink and yellow. Cherry trees outnumber apple by about ten to one in this antique orchard. The calls of the common sandpiper ring out here; the goalie at one end stands on turf scattered with sea-wrack blown in by storms. Whitewash has been used to mark centre circle, goalie box and sideline. One goal is improvised from fencing posts and sheep wire, the other is a modern aluminium and nylon affair. Players on this pitch would have to clamber over the wall and onto the shingle to retrieve the ball before taking the throw-in. And the supporters have not been forgotten: three old kitchen chairs are lined up at the half-way point.