"It would be like winning the title for us"

It has been a bumpy ride this season for Crossmolina in the Super League. After a convincing 4-0 away win against Manulla recently they managed to leave the relegation zone for the first time this season. The chance to survive another year in Mayo's top flight is alive and kicking now.

The men from the banks of the Deel struggled in the top division last season, but when the new campaign came into focus there was a hope that this year could be different. When the new manager, former Super League winner Mick Duffy, was presented in January, there was a sense of optimism in Crossmolina.

But even before the first kick of a ball, the path forward turned out to be a rocky road: “Six weeks before the season started, the Mayo League decided that the Crossmolina pitch, the usual pitch in Abbeytown, in the centre of the town, was not fit enough for play. There was a bit of a hump in the pitch, but it just kind of left us scrambling to get a second pitch,” says Mick Duffy speaking to The Mayo News.

Fortunately Kilmurry community soccer pitch down the road offered help. Even that solution required a bit of work from people behind the scenes. 

“I'm very grateful to them for having the pitch ready every match day, like just lining the pitch and cutting the grass and having the corner flags in”, says Duffy praising everyone in Kilmurry for their efforts.

SURVIVAL

This episode ties in with Crossmolina's fight for survival: For most part of the season, the men in maroon seemed glued to the bottom of the table. In May, after nine matches, Crossmolina were bottom of the table with a disastrous record. The worst attack and the worst defence in the division.

But since then, results have been coming good. In the last four games, Duffy’s men claimed seven points. The manager concedes there is no magic formula. Most importantly there have been more players available in the last few weeks, due to a range of reasons: “That allows you the comfort of maybe changing the formation a little to give us better balance so that we can play our preferred style. Which is to play the ball on the ground. That's the kind of style that I like to play, to have more possession than the opposition.”

Duffy says, he had to field players out of position for most of the season and the biggest issue has been the lack of scoring threat. The player who eased that worry for Mick Duffy is 17-year-old scoring sensation Oisín Deane:

“He's been playing Gaelic all season. But he's been checking in with us every now and again, coming to games, even though he wasn't able to play because he was on the Mayo Minor team. But Oisin has always had a fondness for the soccer as well and has kept in touch with us. And he has come back in recently and been an attacking threat for us. He has brought goals and that was exactly what we have been missing all season.”
Finding players and having them available has been a struggle especially at the start of the season. Duffy keeps referring to Crossmolina AFC as a 'small community club' and emphasizing that the players showing up for matches make great sacrifices: “There's a lot of lads across the county that probably have the talent to play at Super League level, but maybe they decide not to sign for a team because they don't want to be committed to this. So every lad that's playing junior football in Mayo should be commended really. And more importantly for the smaller clubs like Manulla, Claremorris, Kiltimagh and us.”

DEDICATION

When it comes to recent positive results, Duffy has spotted a change of mentality among his players. There is certainly a higher sense of urgency in training and dedication regarding match day:

“If somebody says, do you want to come out for a few pints before a game or the night before a game? Maybe lads are now more inclined to say ‘no, sorry, buddy, I have a game tomorrow.’ And it's that change in that mentality for me as a coach that helps a lot. I was guilty of similar stuff myself, at the start of my career when I was a young guy, having drinks before a match. Not seeing the seriousness of it. So it's my job as a coach to get that across to the lads without kind of peeing them off and making them say, ah, here, it's like this.”

Things are still not all peachy. Just last week Crossmolina had to concede a cup tie against Castlebar Celtic and it’s obvious that the club needs to harness its resources ahead of the season finale. Next up is Westport United, which is one of the hardest challenges in the league. 

“Westport is a bigger town. They're second in the table, and these games, when you're a smaller community club like Crossmolina is, are very difficult.”

However, the match following the Westport game is central to Crossmolina’s though-process. That encounter will see Duffy’s men travel to bottom of the table Claremorris for a must-win encounter. Claremorris got their only win of the season on their trip to Crossmolina, so the meeting between them will most probably decide the fate for Mick Duffy and his boys. The task is a tough one, but the manager knows the prize on offer if they can pull it off.

“It's Super League. There's no hiding place. I've said it to the lads: Staying up would be like a title win for us.”