Achill can’t wait to get a crack at Westport
Feature
Rob Murphy
THE new floodlights were a Godsend to Achill according to local supporters. Every Friday evening they shine that bit brighter lately, representing much more than simply the latest training session for the local footballers. The Friday night floodlights in Achill signal the homecoming of a generation.
All across the country, when the workplace bell tolls at the end of the week, the Achill footballer hops in his car and heads west. Locals will tell you that there is a draw to the island like no other and football provides the excuse for many to make the regular trip.
Only six of Micheál McNamara’s squad join what must be the youngest coaching team in the county during the week. But by 10pm every Friday night, the panel of last year’s county junior champions has usually swelled to between 30 and 35 players.
Colm Cafferkey (26) is the second oldest player in the squad, and along with Michael Denis McNamara combines playing with coaching. Next weekend they face the latest challenge in the incredible re-emergence of the club with a trip to Westport in the Intermediate Championship. They have come from nowhere and have no intention of going back.
“Four or five years ago it was awful playing for Achill at times,” recalled Cafferkey last week. “I remember we actually lost to Westport B to be relegated to Division Five, so it’s incredible to be playing their first team within such a short space of time. We really were struggling and it was hard to motivate yourself. We didn’t even contend in the junior championship, I don’t think we managed a quarter-final place.”
They were lean times but slowly and surely the club built a plan for the future based around a crop of underage talent the likes of which has rarely, if ever, been seen on the island. Underage titles aplenty raised hope but the reality for a club like Achill is that most players inevitably moved elsewhere and the lure of football was lost. Something had to be done.
“We have a very young side, the core is between 18 and 21,” says Colm Cafferkey. “I know it’s a cliché but it really is a case of old heads, young shoulders. There are teenagers on this team who are looking for a pass in the last minute to go for the match-winning score. These lads relish the pressure situations.”
In the past, great players like Sean Grealis, Hugh Fadian and Martin English have left the island and played football for Thomas Davis in Dublin, winning Leinster titles. Now such a scenario is less likely with the new facilities in Achill and a well-run set-up to help develop a genuine conveyor belt of talent.
“The training sessions on a Friday are excellent,” agrees Cafferkey. “During the week myself and the other lads here will train with the minors which makes up the numbers. The lads meet up elsewhere during the week, be it in Sligo, Galway or Dublin. By Friday everyone is full of energy and raring to go.”
Achill haven’t lost a match in league or championship in 18 months; the league run stretches back three years. They are Junior champions, reached last year’s All-Ireland Comortás final and were back on the road in search of that title last weekend.
Cafferkey’s target for the year was, and still is, retaining their Intermediate status and he feels the best way of guaranteeing that is a quarter-final place. Defeat to near-neighbours and rivals Westport wouldn’t end that dream, but victory can all but secure it.
“I’d love to think that over the next few years we will a good few ding-dong battles with them because that would mean we have really established ourselves among the big teams.”
Running Ted Lavelle’s bar, Colm Cafferkey says there’s a buzz in the town like never before. One local said they will be like a mini-version of Munster’s fans in Cardiff when the Achill supporters take over Westport next weekend.
