Brian O’Connor and Mick Walsh remember Mayo’s last Junior Cup win
Feature
Rob Murphy
IN the winter of 1989/90, Ballinrobe Rugby Club had little to show for their endeavours. The cup final defeat to OLBC in 1987 remained etched in their minds, and there was a distinct feeling of unfinished business around the club.
Then they delivered two years of dominance in Connacht’s biggest event. Back to back Junior Cup titles firmly positioned them in the competition’s storied history. That Ballinrobe cup-winning side are known and revered throughout the province to this day.
They meet next week to celebrate the 20th anniversary of that first cup victory so we caught up with some of the chief protagonists. First things first: Do you realise that you are the last Mayo club to win the Connacht Junior Cup?
“I did not know that,” said Brian O’Connor, the back-row rummager who was coming to the end of a dedicated rugby career. “Are you serious? That really is hard to believe.”
Three in a row was almost achieved, only for Galwegians to pip them at Crowley Park in the 1992 semi-final. That’s how the story ends. It began in the depths of winter at the Racecourse in Ballinrobe, and on the hills at the GAA field in Tourmakeady.
“We’d do a lap of the racetrack just to get warmed up,” adds O’Connor. “We’d be quiet boys after that. The training was intense and the commitment was unyielding. Unless someone had died or you were seriously injured, you didn’t miss a session. The discipline Martin Jennings instilled in us over the season stood to us in the end.”
Mick Walsh was propping both seasons. He had secured a contract in Brighton with BT as part of his job with Telecom Éireann, and by the time the final came around, he had to take a ferry home for the game.
The 1990 semi-final – a game that will live long in Ballinrobe folklore – stands out in his mind. It involved a trip back to the mighty Connemara, who went on to take the league title the following year. But the Monastery Field was Ballinrobe’s on a Sunday in April.
“That was one of our best performances during the cup run,” Walsh recalls. “It was a huge challenge to win down there. Their front row was highly-rated, but we were primed for it and produced our best on the day. They had to make two changes very early in the contest. It was an emphatic win and a great achievement.
“I suppose we had coaches who had a forward-orientated mindset. I started playing in ’84 and it was always the way in Ballinrobe. I watched the video of the 1990 final last week with my two sons and they were amazed by the start.”
Ballinrobe kicked off directly into touch for a scrum back on halfway to Athlone – that was the plan. The subsequent scrum saw Athlone go in reverse for 15 metres. It was a huge statement against a senior club with bags of talent, and set the tone for a game which Ballinrobe won 16-6. Mick Walsh’s young rugby enthusiasts were beside themselves at the sight of that first scrum, and he was ‘chuffed’ with their reaction.
In the 1991 final, they trailed underdogs Loughrea at half time. But they recovered to record the highest ever score in a Junior Cup final to that point, scoring four tries in a 27-7 win.
In 1990 Walsh had just started his new job and missing a day at work was not an option, so he headed for the train that Sunday evening. The club president and spiritual leader was the late Charlie Cavanagh. His brother was also heading east, and they shared a satisfying beer on the journey.
Brian O’Connor also missed the celebrations. He was nursing a severe eye injury picked up late in the contest.
“I had burst my tear duct and the operation to rectify it was quite complicated,” he recalled. “I was a quiet boy in hospital that night. My brother Arthur and a few of the team burst in singing, and I can’t say I was in the mood to join them.”
In the past quarter of a century, no Mayo club has had a bigger impact on the Connacht Junior Cup, and the achievements of that Ballinrobe side are rightly being honoured. The celebration night takes place next Saturday, April 24, in Gannon’s Hotel, Ballinrobe at 8.30pm. Tickets cost €40 and include a four-course meal. Contact Sheila Madden (087 9572946); Pat Malone Junior (087 6484121) or Eddie Gibbons, Tourmakeady for details.
