Ballinrobe’s hard work paying off

COACH Seamus O’Toole

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Mike Finnerty

ANYBODY who knows Steven Conroy will tell you he’s a man who walks the walk and can talk the talk.
A talented all-round sportsman, the 28 year-old from Cong is well-known for his Gaelic football exploits with The Neale but these days he’s totally focussed on rugby with Ballinrobe.
And he’s in the form of his life.
Last Sunday Conroy gave another assured display at out-half as the South Mayo men booked their place in the Connacht Junior Cup semi-final against favourites Creggs.
It’s no surprise then to hear him say that he’s enjoying his rugby ‘massively’ at the moment.
“When you put in hard training, the reward at the end of it is getting wins,” he told The Mayo News. “The training that the [coaches] are putting in, Seamus [O’Toole], Damo [Burke], Dave [Nestor] and Craig [Hansberry], the hours they’re putting in, it gives you huge enjoyment when you get wins off the back of that.
“I’d say the one thing we’ve done this year is that, since the beginning of the year, we’ve really put a big emphasis on training and working hard from Tuesday through to Saturday,” he added.
“Often we win the games in that period, and Sunday is just about coming out and doing what we’ve done all week. So it’s nearly about making the training harder than the games.
“It’s great to be back in a Cup semi-final. Today we were confident because we were coming off the back of a good win against Castlebar, we’ve a good strong league campaign under our belt as well, so we were confident. But we knew it would be tough, and by God it was.”
Given the heavy pitch underfoot, not to mention the showers of rain and swirling wind, Conroy’s kicking from the hand and off the tee was very impressive.
He kept Ballinrobe moving forward and Monivea going backwards, and also landed four crucial penalties. All in all, not a bad day’s work.
But with a semi-final on Sunday week next to prepare for, there is no time for him or his team-mates to be admiring their handiwork.
“We try to go out and win every game, like every team does. We’re very religious in that, especially this year, and it’s worked for us.” he explained.
“So we wouldn’t be looking at what position we’re in going into the game or anything like that. It’s just ‘can we impose our game-plan on to them’ is probably the best way to put it.
“It’s about doing that, adapting on the ‘fly’ and after that you’re not really thinking about what position you’re in.”
And is there a Junior Cup in this Ballinrobe squad this year? Or some year soon?
“That’s my ambition, definitely,” he replied. “You don’t know how many chances you’re going to get at it either, with people emigrating and stuff like that. You just have to grab every chance you get.
“Have we a chance of winning it? We’re playing Creggs in the semi-final, that’s what we’re looking at. You’re only as good as your last game.”