Form out the window in relegation showdown

The only consolation this columnist can give the four teams facing into a relegation battle next weekend is that the worst of it is over. Having being in the dreaded relegation tussle for the past three years with Balla, I’ve experienced it up close and personal. 

And I can definitively say that the single worst part of relegation is the drive out to training on that first Tuesday evening back after the end of the group stages.

Albeit, we survived relegation on every attempt so admittedly getting relegated is probably a worse feeling. But, I’ve made that drive for the past three years and honestly, it got worse every time. 

Trying to get motivated for that first evening back knowing what is ahead is like trying to wake a bear from a winters hibernation. It’s quite frankly, depressing. The evenings are closing in and generally they are getting both colder and wetter. 

You’re frustrated and deflated that you’re in that position after the season’s work. The thought of going down to intermediate after all the feckin’ effort trying to get out of it is front and centre of your mind. 

But more often than not, if you’re in the relegation you probably deserve to be there because you just weren’t good enough. 

Nearly-never-pulled-the-calf and those what ifs and buts you had in the last games mean nothing.

Senior football is ruthless. If you don’t take your chances when they are presented to you, it will chew you up and spit you out before you even know it. 

Psychologically it is a real battle too. You live and die for championship football, especially senior. Even though we were faced with the unenviable challenge of facing Westport and Ballina Stephenites in the first and second round of championship, we embraced every second.

The challenge, the competition, the chance of being the David who beats the Goliath gets you absolutely pumped.

All roads lead to the group stages of the championship and you cannot wait to get and out and play, express yourself and just try and enjoy the moment and privilege of being in that position. 

Relegation football is different. It’s impossible to match those emotions. It’s trepidation, not excitement. And that drips down into the football, which becomes nerve-wracking and tense. 

How often do you hear of a cracking relegation game? You don’t. 

Because it’s far removed from free-flowing football. Every mistake you make could potentially be the one that relegates your club and that can play on the decision making of players at critical times. 

There’s no doubt about it that Mayo Gaels are the favourites to go down this year. Their -31 scoring difference tells its own story. 

But experience tells me that form can be very much out the window in relegation. 

For all the reasons I outlined above, it’s like a new season starting. There’s unpredictability; some teams will come into their own, and some won’t. 

I really hate saying this, because it’s such a shallow term, but it is about who is hungrier and wants it more. 

Relegation is no place for fancy football. Tactics and strategies take a back seat to just grinding it out. 

No one remembers who you played in a relegation semi-final or final, and no one cares how you win it either. 

It’s about getting over the line.

Belmullet look the outstanding team of the four. They very nearly could have ended up in a quarter-final as opposed to here, that’s how tight their group was. 

And with Ryan O’Donoghue leading the line, they have one of the best forwards in the country who is not afraid to roll his sleeves up and do the unfashionable work too.

Any other year I would tip Charlestown to stay up, given their experience and having a talent like Paul Towey at club level. 

No doubt they’ve got the toughest draw they could have and while they should still win a relegation final, nothing is a certainty. 

Mayo Gaels and Kilmeena will be a fascinating dual. 

The Gaels’ faith will rest very much on whether or not they can get Liam Hughes and Ethan Henry back on the pitch. 

They face an uphill task as it is, and without those two very influential players, that mountain is even steeper. 

Kilmeena are in a tricky situation. 

They had a very competitive group and didn’t look out of place at all. 

They pushed Breaffy close, should have beaten Aghamore and had Cillian O’Connor not been so outstanding for Ballintubber, could have beat them too.

But, as I said, that counts for nothing if they don’t win either of their next two games.

In Jack Carney they have a top inter-county footballer. But their full forward, Caolach Halligan, has ben a tour-de-force for them. I marked him earlier this year in our Division 1 league clash and he’s more than a handful. 

Powerful, extremely direct and very accurate off the left boot. 

He’s the type of player you want to rely on in games like these. 

Relegation is far from romantic. 

It’s like the worst blind date you’ve ever been on, organised by your friends who secretly hate you, with a date who has expensive taste and makes no secret that she expects you to foot the bill.

But you don’t mind. 

At that stage, you grab the bill when the chance presents itself so you can get out the door and never look back. 

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