'Up The Deise' from The Golden Gate

by Justine Dwyer
No one could accuse Christopher Lane of being a fair-weather supporter of the Waterford hurling team!
As soon as Waterford reached the All-Ireland Final a few weeks ago, Christy, as he is known to his friends, from Glenville on the Dunmore Road , booked his flight home from San Francisco where he has lived for the past 24 years.
“It was a beautiful moment, I thought I was seeing things when I looked at the scoreboard and saw 4-19 to Cork’s 20 points,” Christy says, laughing.
This will be a flying visit back to his hometown, just four days, enough time to see his mother Vera, catch up with friends but most importantly get to the match in Croke Park.
And this isn’t the first time, he’s dropped everything. Christy who works as an electrician in San Francisco came home for the All-Ireland Final between Waterford and Kilkenny back in 2008 with his two-year-old son, Declan.
“That was a tough one. But look, we got over it. There’s a bunch of us over here who have supported the lads through thick and thin. We’ve had good years and bad years but this is definitely a good year.”
A large group of ex-pats, all friends of Christy’s met near the Golden Gate bridge at the weekend, complete with specially made signs, banners, flags and bunting, to put on record their support for the team.
“All of us are coming home for the game. There was no question about it. Most of us can only manage a couple of days but we’re all coming.” And although none of them have tickets yet they remain optimistic.
“I’m working on it,” says Christy. “Put it this way, if I have to dress up as a referee to get into Croke Park I will! Not getting in, doesn’t even come into the equation. Determination is the name of the game.”
Meanwhile, Christy admits that he had undergo “brutal negotiations” with his wife Beth to get the green light to come home. “I got the free pass by promising to bring back Tayto and new Waterford jerseys for the kids!”