Michael D's heart will forever beat black and white

At work he's utterly professional, but Michael D McAndrew won't be at the helm of Mid West Radio Sport next Saturday evening. Instead, he'll be roaring himself silly in the stand in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.

The Glenamoy native will be there with his wife Nollaig and their daughter Anna-Rose urging on the finest of friends and family as Cill Chomáin go in search of the county junior title.

“It's my club. It means the world to me and on Saturday we'll be there kicking every ball with the lads,” he tells The Mayo News.

McAndrew is a busy man. He's the Sports Editor at Midwest Radio and runs Bessie's Bar in Lacken alongside Nollaig.

He gets home a few times a week to see how the clan are getting on in the family pub, The Anglers Rest (Healys) in Glenamoy and if the GAA club needs anything he'll be there like a shot.

“I was the club PRO when I was 15 or 16, I tried to play a bit and was County Board Delegate too, then I was chairman until recently, but when we got married and Anna-Rose came along it was impossible to combine everything, so I stepped away, but the club never leaves the heart,” he adds with a smile.

The man well-known for his Mid West radio match commentaries has been embedded in his local club for as long as he can remember. Generations of the family are tied to the Black and White and if the McDonnell Cup arrives home on Saturday night the emotion will know no bounds.

“My granny Bridget Healy loved the club and actually wrote a poem, 'The Boys from Glenamoy,' about the team back in the day. My uncle Pat (Healy) was one of the founders of the club and the club actually played on his field in Srahnaplaia before moving to the current club grounds. That was a famous pitch and anyone who played there will remember it,” McAndrew adds with a twinkle in his eye.

These days, Cill Chomáin have some of the finest facilities in the land. Two top-quality playing pitches and a stunning clubhouse are the jewels in the crown as the young men from the northern kingdom ready themselves for a tilt at glory.

They've famously carried county junior titles across 'Corick Bridge in 2005 and 2013 and would dearly love to do so again on Saturday night. If that occurs, McAndrew will be there welcoming the big silver cup into the Erris nation.

“Crossing the bridge with the cup is always special for all Erris teams and I can only imagine the craic if it happens this weekend. We have a fine team, full of fine footballers and I'd absolutely love to see them win it – not just for themselves, but for so many men and women who have put their lives and souls into the club over the years. They've worked so hard and given so much of themselves for the good of the community, so it would be lovely to see their excitement if the result goes the right way.”

McAndrew saw that excitement at first hand at the end of the 2013 county final when Cill Chomain defeated Ardnaree. “I wasn't long in Mid West at the time and had been part of the panel earlier in the year, so I was still named in the subs for the final, but I was actually working. So, when the final whistle went I was out on the pitch grabbing lads to bring them up for interviews. That was a special moment – to be right there on the pitch to see the raw emotion, to see how much it truly meant. Big men were crying. It was a special moment.”

Fast forward eleven seasons and many things have changed. The cub-reporter is now the Sports Editor at Mid West and the facilities at their ground in Lenarevagh have been transformed. However, the dream remains the same – to see the McDonnell Cup back in the land where St Comán kicked ball back in the sixth century.

“It's massive really. It means so much – particularly after losing a few finals in recent years. If we can get over the line on Saturday evening there might be a few more tears shed in Castlebar.”

If that occurs, there might be a couple of verses of his late grandmother's poem doing the rounds on Saturday night:

The Boys From Glenamoy

By Bridget Healy

Come all you lads and lassies, come fill your cup with joy, and drink a health to all the boys who train in Glenamoy.

Sure it happened all one evening on a Sunday afternoon when the boys from Bonniconlon came and had to face our own.

They thought they’d lick our gallant team but very soon they knew that the boys from the bogs of Erris, they never could subdue.

And when the game was over and we had won the day; they went back to Bonniconlon with very few words to say.

MICHAEL D ON.....

Commentating on Cill Chomain games

“I couldn't do it, in Mayo anyway. I believe I'd be professional and balanced, but it wouldn't be fair. If the lads happen to win on Saturday, I might think about working on their games then, but I'll only think about that if it occurs.

Nigel Reape

I was chairman at the time and knew Nigel from working with him at games for Mid West. We wanted to get good people involved. John Maloney, who won it in 2005 and '13 was there and we asked Nigel to come to a meeting. There was another club after him, but he wanted to step back from management for a while and we were ideal for him because John could manage the team and Nigel could be coach. It has changed a bit this year, the two lads are managing the team together I think and Sean McLoughlin coming in as coach.

Comortas Peil

The Comortas is very important to us. We had brilliant weekends away in Waterford and Cork over the years, but winning it last year was fantastic. I know the competition is confined to Gaeltacht clubs, but it's a national title and meant a lot to us. It gave the lads a lot of confidence although we picked up injuries at it.