COLUMN: Mayo awaits replay after epic county final battle

Ominous would have been the word to describe the long-range weather forecast a week ago.

We had been gearing ourselves up for a damp, dreary, dark county final day in MacHale Park, and were wondering if torches would be needed, given that the floodlights are still out of action, a mere ten months after Storm Eowyn wreaked its havoc.

Fortunately, no such measures were called for, and it was jumper-only weather as the sun beamed into the stand on a glorious autumn day, which was matched only by the fare on offer on Sunday.

A double delight of games, with no shortage of talking points. What more could anyone ask for? An excellent cup of tea and a bit of an atmosphere would have been the icing on the cake – and sure enough, both were also duly delivered. Sure, how could the day get any better? 

For the North Mayos among us, bringing the Moclair back Moyside for the third time running would have been the cherry on top, but alas, the pleasure was denied - or postponed, depending on one’s optimism levels.

It will certainly be no hardship to make our way back to HQ for another helping of drama on Saturday afternoon. 

GRIPPING CONTEST

The difficulty in procuring parking prior to the Intermediate throw-in suggested that the crowds were out in force, and those numbers contributed to a sense of occasion not felt in Castlebar for quite a while.

Usually, we are in situ good and early, but we were probably a bit too relaxed about hitting the road and as a result, were just under the stand when the monumental roar from above us suggested that someone had rattled the net.

No surprise to hear that it was Ronan Clarke for Moy Davitts, and the contest that played out after that kept us gripped right up to the final seconds. 

It was a thriller, in every sense of the word. Riveting, end-to-end stuff. Great scores, terrible misses, ferocious tackling, audacious shot-taking and fierce pace.

The great injustice about such a game is that one team had to go home completely empty-handed, and that cross is Moy Davitts’s to bear for a successive long winter. No cup, no promotion, just a torturous, never-ending thought cycle of what-ifs.  

There is no consoling logic to be found, only the alchemy of pride and pain that keeps clubs trying again, year after year. Is there an argument for two up, two down?

In the case of these two teams, who could argue that they wouldn’t both add immeasurably to our senior championship? A fantastic win for Kilmeena, from whom calm self-belief radiated throughout the game.

Youngster and early substitute Cormac O’Malley caught the eye early on, as he hesitated to take on a shot at the Bacon Factory End, and it ended up tailing wide.

Apparently determined not to make the same mistake again, he grew into the game with a self-assuredness that belied his tender years, and his five-point tally marked him out as One To Watch.

It came right down to the wire, as Anthony Jordan’s desperate last-ditch attempt at a winning two-pointer for Moy Davitts fell agonisingly short. 

INTRUSIVE

Conditions were pretty perfect – apart from the sun in Ballina’s eyes in the second half - though a gentleman behind us took mild issue with John Stagg’s description of the breeze as “gentle” on Midwest Radio.

“If you were drying your shirt off the top of that flagpole it wouldn’t take long to be dry!” he exclaimed. As drying as the breeze may have been, though, it had remarkably little influence on either game.

More intrusive however, were the several loud “FOGRAÍ” during play about cars causing obstructions. The owner of the blue Ford Focus was clearly very gripped by the fare on the pitch and had to be begged three times to get out and move his car.

We couldn’t help but spare a thought for some poor grieving Moy Davitts fan who wanted to get the hell out of dodge as quickly as possible, but found themselves instead trapped in a corner of hell, in an industrial estate in Castlebar with ecstatic Kilmeena fans everywhere. God love them.

MASSIVE COLLISION

Given the recent history of the senior finals, we were a bit pessimistic about the fare awaiting us after the break.

Granted, it didn’t reach the fever pitch of the previous game until the final quarter, but drama was worth waiting for. As Ballina raced into a commanding lead, a real dampener was thrown on proceedings by the loss of Lee Keegan and Pádraig O’Hora.

Keegan had just opened Westport’s account after 11 minutes, when a hard tackle from the Stephenites man had them both writhing in agony on the ground, a sight no-one ever wants to see in any game.

Witnessing the effects of a bad collision with your eyes is bad enough, but hearing it with your ears is worse. There won’t be a person in the county not wishing for a speedy recovery for both. 

Westport responded brilliantly to the loss of their talisman, and ground Ballina’s lead down impressively with 11 different scorers, and went ahead by three.

The thrills and spills were coming thick and fast. But Ballina aren’t contesting three-in-a-row for nothing, and chaos ensued when the ball found the back of the net.

Evan Regan is credited with the leveller, but in various match reports, so are Luke Doherty and sub Ben Thornton, so who knows?  (As an aside, credit to the Irish Times group for reporting scores in the (G-T-P) format – more of this please!) 

It was Ballina by one, then Westport created a gap of two courtesy of a magnificent monster of a two-pointer – his first score of the season - by Brian McDermott, who really has had an outstanding few weeks and a point from sharpshooter Killian Kilkelly.

It was left to midfielder Frank Irwin, who’d had a quiet enough game by his standards, to steady himself for a two-point free to rescue Ballina’s chances, and with ice coursing through his veins, despite a cacophony of yelling, horn-blasting, hollering, whistling and signboard-banging from the Westport fans, sent it straight over the black spot. 

Both teams will have their regrets, and a third weekend on the trot is a big ask, but there was very little sense of an anti-climax among most supporters. 

How lucky are we, that we get to do this all again next weekend?