WORTH WAITING FOR? Eoin McCormack lifts the Mayo Junior FC trophy after Ardnaree Sarsfields won the title for the first time since 1971 last Sunday at MacHale Park, Castlebar.?Pic: Michael McLaughlin
Final
Ardnaree 6-14
Killala 0-7
Daniel Carey
Castlebar
AT the very end, there was a slight delay. Mayo GAA Board chairman Mike Connelly seemed reluctant to part with the Pete McDonnell Cup when it came time to hand it over to Eoin McCormack.
In fact, there was nothing sinister about the hold-up – the photographers just wanted to make sure they had captured the moment for posterity. And let’s face it, what’s another 40 seconds when you’ve been waiting over 40 years for a county title?
In 1971, Eamon de Valera was in Áras an Uachtaráin, Richard Nixon was in the White House, and Roy Keane was in nappies. In the year Ardnaree last triumphed in a Mayo junior final, Ireland was dealing with RTÉ’s first colour broadcast, decimalisation and the lifting of the GAA’s ban on foreign games.
But if that all seems like a world away, take a look at The Mayo News report of the North Mayo side’s victory over Breaffy. “After many years of being frustrated at the final stages of the competition,” wrote Christy Loftus in these pages, “Ardnaree, the North Mayo kingpins, are County Junior Champions once more.” Plus ça change and all that ...
But while that was a three-point victory, this was a massacre in keeping with the Sarsfields’ dominance of the grade all season. The margin at MacHale Park last Sunday was, as John Casey noted on Midwest Radio, larger than that between Argentina and Ireland at the Rugby World Cup.
But then, the closest any team came to beating Declan O’Dea’s side in this year’s competition was 11 points (Lahardane in the group stages). And after years of knocking at the door only to be turned away (four defeats in five recent finals), they didn’t so much clamber into the intermediate grade as break down the door. This is how you break a hoodoo.
“It was make or break for some of us players,” McCormack admitted in his speech (after he finally got both hands on the cup). “I actually didn’t realise until this morning it was 1971 when we last ... took the junior title. So it has been a long wait, and thank God it’s over!”
As against Ardagh in the semi-final, two first-half goals proved key to Ardnaree’s ambitions. The first came after 15 minutes, when full-forward Chris Walsh let fly with what looked like an attempt for a point, only to see it dip into the corner of Ruairí O’Hara’s net. Three minutes before the interval, Walsh was at the end of a move involving Rory Clarke and Cathal Noone but saw his effort come off the underside of the crossbar. Lest there be any doubt about whether the ball had crossed the line, Noone (following up) made sure, and it was 2-8 to 0-4 at the break.
Andrew Farrell, battling injury, found himself swarmed by Ardnaree players when he threatened. The victors’ full-back line mopped up everything (special kudos here to Conor Naylor), and they had free-scoring forwards who took full advantage of decent diagonal passes. Stephen Tighe put in a huge shift in the middle.
Two minutes after the restart, Noone turned provider and captain McCormack fisted his free to the net. Ronan Doherty, immense throughout, took a quick free to Tighe, who teed up Walsh for his second goal. Walsh himself laid on number five for Noelie Beattie, and both would get huge ovations when withdrawn before the end. After Darragh Herbert was denied a goal by Blaine Ginty at the other end, Doherty delivered the coup de grace with a stylish finish.
There was hardly a cow milked on the east side of the Moy last Sunday night.
But then, is there ever?
Ardnaree
B Ginty; C Naylor, I Clarke, C Cawley; M McCormack (0-1), P Lacken, S Timlin; S Tighe, M Rafter (0-1); N Beattie (1-0), R Doherty (1-1), C Noone (1-1, 0-1f); E McCormack (1-5, 0-3f), C Walsh (2-3), R Clarke (0-1).
Subs used: R O’Malley for S Tighe (45 mins); K McCarron for C Noone (48 mins); B Fitzpatrick for M McCormack (49 mins); J Egan for N Beattie (53 mins); B Reilly for S Timlin (54 mins); D McCormack (0-1) for C Walsh (58 mins).
Killala
R O’Hara; K McLoughlin, M Dooher, M Barrett; M Maheady (0-1), k Dooher, S Maheady; B Garvin (0-1), D Lowther; A Murphy, A Quinn (0-3), K Walsh; D Herbert, A Farrell (0-2, 1f), C Gilvarry.
Subs used: G Ferguson for K Walsh (23 mins); S Ryan for A Murphy (34 mins); N Maheady for S Ryan (37 mins, inj); D Lawlor for K McLoughlin (53 mins); C Monaghan for M Maheady (53 mins); C O’Dea for D Herbert (58 mins, inj).
Referee: B Kilkelly (Westport)
