Mayo intermediate champions ready for more

It was a rocky path back. After six years in the intermediate diaspora, the Deel Rovers have returned to the senior ranks. It took a replay against a feisty Moy Davitts team. The celebrations in Crossmolina lasted for three days. The county crown means a lot for a club and community that still vividly remember their glory days, when they won the senior All-Ireland championship in 2001 and this year's journey might be far from over. This Saturday, the boys from the Deel enter the Connacht championship, meeting Galway champions St Michael's in the semi-final. 

Crossmolina manager Brian Benson is preparing his players for a wholly different atmosphere: “I said to the boys in training: The next game won't have the same amount of focus from supporters and the media,” explains Benson, sitting down with The Mayo News ahead of the match: “It will be less hype than a county final. Just be aware of that. When you hit the pitch, you won't have the roars and the cheers the same as you had the last day. So it's like going back and playing an ordinary championship game now.”

READ: Crossmolina players in their own words after winning county title

Benson speaks from experience. He played in a Connacht semi-final twice, in 2005 and 2006. It seems, lifting the Sweeney cup in MacHale Park was the golden chalice for Crossmolina. They've done the hard bit. The pressure is off now. The next challenge feels like a bonus for the young team, but they're ready to give it a crack.

Benson knows there's many factors at play to go on a prolonged championship run. Everyone has to be fit, things have to go well and obviously luck would be needed as the oppositions get stronger:

“What we've told them is, it's definitely getting a lot harder. Every team we play against now is a a senior team. They’re all county champions and have been been promoted to the senior ranks.”

READ: Benson's babes drive Deel Rovers to glory

Saturday’s opponents St Michael's, are exactly what Benson is talking about. They were relegated to intermediate a year ago and bounced straight back up. They have three former Galway senior footballers in their ranks, Eamon Brannigan, Eoghan Kerin and Eddie Hoare. And in Fionan Cruise they have a former Moy Davitts player, who might use his contacts to get some intel about the Deel Rovers. A move that won't alarm Brian Benson:

“We might tweak one or two things. We would have tweaked one or two things for Moy Davitts from the first game to the second game just to try and keep them guessing,” he adds to pointing to a change in mindset among his experienced players this year.

“I spoke to Conor (Loftus) at the start of the season, I said 'There's no pressure on you. Everyone is doing a job for the team and you're a part of that. So I want you just to play with freedom in whatever role we give you. It's not up to you to win the game.’”

READ: All the action from the Mayo GAA club championship finals

The same goes for midfielder Jordan Flynn: “I think he felt a huge weight on his shoulders. He felt he had to be fielding the ball in the middle of the pitch, putting tackles in and scoring. Whereas this year, we just said, ‘win your battle and that will help the team.’”

This strategy has helped the Deel Rovers return to the Promised Land and it might take them even further.