Northern lights start to fade
Sean Rice
JUST as one swallow never made a summer, one south Mayo success does not constitute a crisis for the north. But as they commence to review their year’s work no one in Ballina or Crossmolina or Knockmore, or Charlestown for that matter, ought to lightly dismiss the notion that the scales of power might have begun to swing westwards.
Together over the past twenty years the four clubs in the northern half of the county have dominated the senior winners rostrum. Crossmolina on six occasions had the honour to raise the Moclair Cup; Ballina toasted it four times, Knockmore three, Charlestown twice, and farther east Ballaghaderreen two years ago.
Apart from Hollymount, who enjoyed three years of prosperity in the early part of 1990s and Castlebar who got a brief one-year look-in (1993) — while the hot shots in the north took a breather — the cup has been a permanent fixture in North Mayo. For fifteen consecutive years it rooted there . . . until Ballintubber yanked it back west last month.
Whether it is another fleeting visit, or a definite tilt away from the north one can only guess. Right now evidence tends to suggest a more compelling reason for the waning power of the Big Four than when fatigue or complacency was a tenable excuse for any temporary slippage.
The irrevocable march of time could be the enemy.
Although they reached the quarter-finals this season, Crossmolina are struggling to re-establish the invincibility of their years on the summit. The gap has now grown to four years, and without the power that the Nallens and Ciaran McDonald provided the top is not in sight.
John Maughan has salvaged a lot of Crossmolina’s old pride. There’s a good challenge in them still. But while Ronan Rochford, Peadar Gardiner, Brian Benson and Ian Rowland serve him well, only once in a generation does a McDonald or a Nallen appear on the scene.
One final determined effort before bowing to the inevitable tattooed every Charlestown victory up to the quarter-finals. By the quality of their wins it was clear they were hell-bent on retaining the title. But they peaked too soon. A brilliant recovery by Shrule/Glencorrib tripped them up in the quarter-finals. And the stand in McHale Park trembled at the shock of the fall.
Now you wonder can the Higgins brothers, or Enda Casey or Paul Mulligan or Richard Haran or Mark Caffrey or Ollie Conway find their old heart. For nine years they have been the soul of Charlestown’s resilience. Another vigorous campaign could be beyond them.
Ballina Stephenites have changed little in personnel since their last Moclair Cup win in 2007. But the appetite is not what it was then. The Bradys are gone, Paul McGarry, Eanna Casey and Brian Ruane are feeling the strain of the years. Long campaigns against young sides are taking a toll. While Ronan McGarrity and Pat Harte are in the engine room there is some hope, but they need an injection of power in the forward line.
Even though beaten by Castlebar at the penultimate stage, Knockmore are the best bet to bring the title back north. Old reliables Declan Sweeney and the ageless Kevin O¹Neill cannot go on forever, but they still have Kilcoyne and Munnelly and McLoughlin and Howley, and that’s a fair base on which to build.
A cursory glance at the opposition in the rest of the county might suggest mediocre standards. But the main contenders — Castlebar, Breaffy and holders Ballintubber — have youth on their sides. Ballintubber, even without James Horan at the helm, will not relinquish easily, and the young members of the other two have been learning avidly.
Mayo lads make Sigerson Cup short-list
SEVEN Mayo footballers of the distant past, Sean Lavan, Mick Raftery, Joe Salmon, Henry Kenny, Sean Flanagan, Padraic Carney and Anthony Finnerty, are among the sixty nominations for the Sigerson Cup team of the century.
The team is being selected to mark the centenary of the competition in 2011, and An Comhairle Ardoideachais, the GAA’s Higher Education Authority, made the nominations.
The competition was first staged in 1911 when former UCD University Professor, Dr George Sigerson donated the trophy to mark the new third level competition.
The nominations are broken down into four goalkeepers, 24 defenders, eight midfielders, and 24 forwards. What criteria was used in compiling the list has not been revealed, but while all sixty are worthy contenders it is claimed that too many come from the distant past.
Third level education in those early years was confined to universities in Dublin, Galway, Cork and Belfast. Only in later years as education expanded were Maynooth and other institutes of higher learning added to the competition.
Sean Lavan from Kiltimagh won three Sigerson medals with UCD between 1922 and ‘29. Mick Raftery (UCG) hauled in a total of eight in the 1933-41 period; Joe Salmon (UCG) was on six winning sides between,‘36-41; Henry Kenny (UCG), who won an All-Ireland with Mayo in 1936, had four medals to his credit, won between 1937 and ‘41; Sean Flanagan (UCD), Mayo’s All-Ireland winning captain of 1950 and ‘51, had his only Sigerson success when he captained the team of 1945-46. Compared with those three, Anthony Finnerty (UCG/UCD) is a mere baby. But according to the records between 1981 and 1996 he raked in a total of four awards.
Sean Lavan is credited with introducing the solo run to Gaelic football. Mick Raftery, from Balla, was a member of the Mayo junior All-Ireland winning side of 1933 . . . the county’s first national title. He was also a member of the Mayo team to win the county’s first National League, in 1934. Raftery later won an All-Ireland senior medal with Galway.
Joe Salmon was a member of the Mayo’s first minor team to win an All-Ireland title . . . in 1935. He also went on to play senior football for Galway.
Maynooth College holds a Sigerson interest for the people of Islandeady in that parish priest Fr Pat Donnellan, a native of Moylough — as any visitor to the presbytery will know — played Sigerson Cup football with the college for seven consecutive years, winning once . . . in 1976.
Whether any of the seven Mayo nominations make the final team is difficult to say, but the list does appear to lean too heavily towards the first fifty years of the competition.
MEANWHILE, four Mayo footballers have been chosen among the best fifteen under 21 players of the past ten years. Keith Higgins, Tom Parsons, Aidan O’Shea and Pearse Hanley represent the highest number of any county on the selection.
Cork, who have won the competition twice in the last ten years, have three players chosen with Dublin, Down, Donegal, Tyrone, Laois, Tipperary and Kerry each having one.
The selection process was organised by Cadbury, sponsors of the All-Ireland U-21 competition, who asked people to log onto their website to vote. Some 1,500 votes were counted for 92 players.
Since it was not a scientific process it can¹t be taken too seriously. Nor could it be considered a team in any real sense since positions were not stipulated. But it’s nice to see Mayo on top at something.
Just a thought …
The victory of St Brigid’s over Killererin in the Connacht club final on Sunday is a further sign of the growing stature of Roscommon football, and a boost to their hopes of retaining the Connacht title.
