The Last Ditch

<B>"Sweeney's prose is on fire. A blistering book that readers will relish enormously." MICHAEL HARDING</B><BR/><BR/><B>"A cracking read ... a championship season as redemption song." MICHAEL CLIFFORD</B><BR/><BR/><B>"All the tension of a tight knockout encounter ... one of the books of the year." MIKE McCORMACK</B><BR/><BR/> In the summer of 2024, sports columnist Eamonn Sweeney set out to follow the All-Ireland championships around the country, retracing footsteps he'd first laid down in his 2004 bestseller<I> The Road to Croker</I>. But there was one big problem. For many years, he had struggled with a crippling travel phobia that left him largely confined to his hometown in West Cork. To fulfil his publishing contract, he had to face his deepest fears.<BR/><BR/><I>The Last Ditch</I> is a story about mental health, hidden shame and a life-changing moment in a remote train station. It's about a hurling championship which may have been the greatest ever played and a football championship which definitely was not. It's about unlikely triumphs, remarkable renaissances, shocks, cliff-hangers and heartbreaks on the pitch.<BR/><BR/> Off the field, it is the story of one man's embrace of a changing Ireland as he takes back his life. Both an unforgettable sports odyssey and a revelatory personal account, <I>The Last Ditch</I> is a celebration of resilience, the healing power of connection and the unifying spirit of the GAA.<BR/>  <BR/>