Local rivalry is what Championship is all about

IT doesn’t get any bigger than a big championship local derby!

This columnist had the pleasure of spending an hour in the company of Westport’s Lee Keegan and Aghamore’s Paddy Finnegan to preview the Mayo Senior Championship last week on the Mayo Football Podcast and local rivalries were hot topic.

Lee was preparing for a League final against their next door neighbours Castlebar Mitchels, a side they will no doubt be facing down the line in championship at some point. Their Saturday evening match in MacHale Park was an exciting sign of things to come.

Paddy Finnegan was preparing for a championship opener against their biggest rivals, Ballyhaunis, and we in Balla are looking ahead to a short trip up the road to Mayo Abbey in two weeks.

They are the kind of games that really whet the appetite of a county starved for some championship football.

Local rivalries are what GAA is all about.

FRIENDSHIPS are set aside in the pursuit of bragging rights that can last for years and in some cases those friendships might never be the same again.

It doesn’t happen often, but pride is a powerful emotion and game of football is more than enough to cause a rift.

I fondly remember a few years back former Mayo footballer Martin Carney describing the rivalry between Ballina Stephenites and Knockmore as one of hatred.

Of course he didn’t mean in a literal, vitriolic sense, but then Knockmore manager Ray Dempsey took issue on Mayo GAA TV with the comments.

He responded by citing there being only respect between the two North Mayo giants.

Of course Dempsey is right, but Carney isn’t wrong either. All great rivalries and local derbies across a multitude of sports are developed with a certain level of hatred between the parties.

Before I get calls for cancellation, or worse, prosecution for hate speech, it’s not a sinister or callous hatred, but more a respectable and heathy form – if that is such a thing.

Think Man United/Liverpool; Mayo/Dublin; Kilkenny/Tipperary; Padraig Harrington/Sergio Garcia; Allan Prost/Aryton Senna. At one stage or another all the above expressed some level of absolute loathing towards the other and that is what makes the battle so passionate.

More often than not, one side of the rivalry has the edge too, which only adds fuel to the opposite’s fire in the form of possessing that something they don’t have.

Without that emotion and hostility, there just wouldn’t be as much fun.

Often times the hatred is because there are so many similarities between the two parties.

More than they like to admit.

The Balla and Mayo Gaels rivalry is something like this.

The two communities are woven together in so many ways.

We go to school together, play football, soccer and golf together, we socialise together most weeks of the year, do business together, stand for each other’s kids in their christenings and on the altar for weddings where we also share the same priest.

In many ways we are one, the only divide keeping us from being one big happy family is our GAA clubs.

But that divide, we firmly believe, is as big as the Sahara desert.

When that ball is thrown in on Sunday week, both sets of supporters will be baying for blood. There won’t be a nice word shared and for those 60 or 70 minutes, the thought of losing will bring out that hatred deep inside even the best of saints.

The 5km journey home to Balla might never feel as long, or as short, depending on the result.

But when all is said and done and the emotions start to reach a safer level, you’ll have Balla and Mayo Gaels people enjoying the craic in Mannions, the Rendezvous, the Shebeen and Malachy Byrne’s long into the evening.

The craic will continue long into the next week and probably through the winter time too.

That’s what the GAA and parish pride is about.

Your GAA club is your identity and any person I know worth their salt would never have that questioned or taken away from them.

There is a deep siege mentality when it comes to local rivalries and no better place than championship football to bring that to the fore because it’s just that bit more personal.

Aghamore/Ballyhaunis, Westport/Castlebar and any other local rivalry in the GAA can all resonate.

We will often complain about the standard of football, the tactics being deployed and the lack of good forwards in the county, but you can never doubt the support and passioduring club championship.

It’s the highlight of the calendar for club snobs like this columnist and Sunday week can’t come quick enough.

Let the games begin and the craic will follow.

Patience and protection for Kobe and Co

THIS columnist was amongst the many who observed the stunning exploits of Kobe McDonald in the recent Mayo U-16 A Final.

I first came across the young star when he was part of a sensational Crossmolina team who won the Cumann na mBunscol a few years back.

His father, the legendary Ciaran, was part of a star-studded coaching set-up on that day too.

Kobe showed all the talent and ability that day to leave a lasting impact on all the scribes who saw him, so it’s no surprise that he is really coming of age now.

It’s fair to say he has fairly stretched out in his frame since then though!

Young McDonald, alongside his equally impressive teammate, Oisin Deane, put on an exhibition in MacHale Park a couple of weeks back and in doing so, nearly broke the internet.

Every online media outlet and social media platform were pushing this young sensation hard to reap clicks because the McDonald name in GAA circles is absolute gold.

Even Off The Ball felt it worthy to ask Mayo Ladies manager Michael Moyles about young Kobe after Mayo were dumped out of the All-Ireland series by Kerry.

While it’s brilliant to see such a young talent flourishing on a big stage, this can also be a hindrance in modern city.

Before he even kicked a ball, young Kobe was carrying a big weight of expectation on his shoulders given who is father is, and his brother, Mayo star Jordan Flynn.

That’s just the reality of the cards he has been dealt and so far he has shown all the signs that he has no interest in staying in the shadows of his father and sibling.

But even so, there’s a huge responsibility that Kobe and other young stars like him are protected and afforded the proper care and patience young athletes like him need.

That I have no doubt he will.

But equally, there is a huge responsibility on the side of the media and the public given the pressures and issues that social media can cause today. His brother, Jordan, is well aware of how nasty social media can be in tough times.

Kobe has started his career off brilliantly and hopefully it will be a long and successful one representing Crossmolina and Mayo.