Seán Rice
SO we blossom again ... and still bear no fruit. But there will be another day, another flower, another blossom and some day our sideboard will overflow.
Right now, though, Castlebar Mitchels are absorbed in profound self-scrutiny, wondering where and how it all went so wrong.
Time will heal the wounds if not the memory, but right now, the question facing the Mayo members of the Mitchels is whether they can bounce back to help rescue the county’s sinking league hopes.
As defeats piled up we looked to the Mitchels’ members, basking in the glory of All-Ireland success, for their essential assistance in the remaining games of the league.
Now in the aftermath of defeat they may benefit, mentally, more from a rest than an immediate return to the league cauldron. And Stephen Rochford may have to soldier on in the hope that without them, Mayo can salvage something from their penultimate game against Roscommon on Sunday.
That’s scarcely a task to which Mayo are looking forward right now. Roscommon is the rising star of the present campaign. In a meteoric ascent from Division 4 in five years all of their potential is being realised. One by one, the mighty have fallen before the onward rush of the Rossies – Kerry, Cork, Down and Donegal all surrendering to this new, vibrant force in Gaelic football.
Now they await their old nemesis in Hyde Park. And none of their league wins so far will give them greater satisfaction than to add a further nail in the coffin of Mayo’s Division 1 hopes.
Injuries, absenteeism and a late start to their season has plagued Mayo’s league campaign, and it is fair to say that in none of their games so far have they reached the prodigious pace set by Roscommon. Their last defeat to Kerry exposed a gap in preparedness we thought their win over Monaghan had begun to close.
Nor has Mayo’s marksmanship matched Roscommon’s ability to score from all angles and distances. Some of their foot-passing and points against Donegal were stunningly accurate, and if they hit similar form on Sunday, Mayo will be found wanting.
Of course it’s an old neighbours’ tiff, and pride being at stake, it will have the air of a championship fling. Not since 2001 have Roscommon won a league or championship game against Mayo. So we can expect some levelling of old scores and serious duels between the likes of Tom Parsons and Ian Kilbride, Seamus O’Shea or Jason Gibbons and Enda Smith, Ger Cafferkey and Senan Kilbride, and Seán Purcell or David Murray and Aidan O’Shea.
But how the Mayo defence copes with the power and accuracy of Cathal and Fintan Cregg, Ciaran Murtagh and Conor Devaney, who have been tearing through other defences with ease, piling up huge scoring totals in all of their games, will determine the outcome of the game.
Mayo have not made sufficient progress in their training schedule to match Roscommon’s achievements in the league to date. The Rossies have had a big head-start in their preparation. Evidence so far suggests that the Mayo forward line as now constituted bears no comparison to the combined force of Kilbride and Murtagh and the Creggs.
Kerry, already beaten by Roscommon, exposed shortcomings in the Mayo attack while Roscommon were taking the Donegal defence asunder. With Kevin McStay at their helm, conscious of every characteristic of Mayo football, principally their weaknesses, the omen for Sunday is anything but rosy.
But local rivalry being what it is, a more even battle can be expected. Roscommon ceded their first game to Monaghan on their own soil. Mayo’s only points have come from their tussle with Monaghan.
Maybe they’ll find inspiration in that victory to earn a critical point on Sunday.
Gerry O’Malley and the day the crossbar broke
GLOWING honours paid to Dermot Earley have somewhat befogged our vision of the Roscommon star who preceded him. But those who remember his exploits will know that Gerry O’Malley’s name is also indelibly inscribed in the pantheon of Roscommon’s football gods.
And like his younger disciple, who was born in Castlebar, O’Malley also had strong Mayo blood coursing through his veins. His father hailed from Clare Island and maintained unshakeable football loyalty to the county of his birth ... even at the peak of his son’s achievements.
The death in January of Gerry O’Malley evoked no rave reviews of a career that burned as brightly as any throughout Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s. Not one festooned by All-Ireland success, but shaped by natural athletic ability and courage undeterred by the whims of fate.
A playing career of almost 20 years commenced in November 1947 and ended in 1964. In between were many unique performances mainly at centre half-back, none more memorable that the 1962 Connacht final at MacHale Park.
Galway were heading for an easy win when the crossbar broke under the weight of Roscommon goalkeeper Aidan Brady. After a lull of 15 minutes, the game resumed with O’Malley moved to midfield, from where he inspired Roscommon to a dramatic and memorable victory.
The Rossies went on to reach the All-Ireland final but were denied by Kerry, and with it went O’Malley’s rare chance of collecting a Celtic cross.
The pursuit of awards, however, was not what propelled the angular Roscommon man. He played football for the love of it and his natural ability took him to heights of performance few could reach.
All that was reflected in his selection for Ireland against the Combined Universities on eight occasions; in his selection on 13 successive Connacht teams; in his three Railway Cup medals; in being chosen Footballer of the Year in 1961.
His versatility as a skilled hurler also won him a rare place on the Connacht team, a lone outsider among a swarm of Galway men. He also won an All-Ireland junior hurling medal with Roscommon in 1965.
O’Malley, one of four in a family of eight to receive a university education, also won five county senior championships with his native St Brigid’s, one in his capacity as sub and team trainer.
As if inspired by Granuaile, herself from the soil of his father’s birthplace, Gerry was lionised wherever football was discussed. Yet his unparalleled achievements could never dissuade his father Tom O’Malley from undivided support of his native Mayo.
When as one of a young bunch of teenagers Gerry asked his father for a field on which to practise for a team the precursor of St Brigid’s, permission was granted with the stipulation that the players must wear green and red jerseys.
In his early days while playing for Roscommon, he complained to his father of being hit by Mayo’s icon Pádraig Carney, but was bluntly informed that if Pádraig Carney hit him, Gerry deserved it.
No mollycoddling there for the young Roscommon idol. No nursing of wounded pride. Gerry O’Malley made his own way to the stars and deserves to be remembered as one of Mayo marrow that, like Dermot Earley, brought joy to hordes of Roscommon people for close on two decades.
