Ballintubber do Mayo proudTHEY lost by the narrowest of margins, but their character remains flawless. On the gloomiest of days and in the most difficult of conditions, they kept us on our toes to the last moment of an entertaining Connacht semi-final.
Extra time seemed inevitable as Cillian O’Connor was handed the unenviable task of bringing sixty-eight minutes of fine entertainment to a close… in deadlock. The free-kick was within his range and when others felt the task beyond them, on the shoulders of the young corner forward the responsibility fell.
In the circumstances the ball veered off target, and Ballintubber’s venture into the unknown had come to an end. When they return it will be as wiser and more experienced Mayo champions.
But for the next few years they have to do it without the shrewd counsel of their mentor James Horan, the man who has stitched together a memorable side, but who now moves to other pastures.
Inexperience was the decisive wedge between them and victory on Sunday. Having played in the first half with all the dash and vigour that took them to the pinnacle in Mayo, the composure to maintain that momentum dwindled after the break as Killererin stepped up the pressure.
It was the Galway champions who seemed to have it all to do in the second half. They had the strong wind in their favour in the opening thirty minutes, yet trailed by a point at the interval.
Once again, however, it became plain how difficult it can be to harness the elements. Neither side did when the wind blew in their favour. While the advantage always appears to be with the side that has the wind at their back the reverse was certainly true on Sunday.
Killererin mustered all the energy gathered from their years in top class football to produce a fighting second half, spurred by midfielder Thomas Hughes, and their wily old campaigner Tommie Joyce.
In the face of their tenacity, Ballintubber were forced into a kind of shapeless resistance in which defenders were forced out of position to support one another, to foul too often, and thus to clear without purpose.
You were left to wonder would they have been better on this occasion to have Michael Nestor restored to his conventional position at corner forward to deal with those stray clearances, rather than back in defence.
Whether or which, Ballintubber did not lack for courage, but their composure was not what they had displayed in the Mayo championship. They were under constant pressure throughout the second half. Killererin played for frees and some were too easily awarded.
The Abbey men had legitimate claims to a late penalty when Padraic O’Connor appeared to have been fouled in the square, but referee Haulie Beirne was not impressed. And irked by the nature of some of the frees awarded against them, they lost concentration and were further punished for dissent.
The return for their second half struggle was a single point, while Killererin managed three… one from a ’45 by goalkeeper Alan Keane.
How different it was in the first half when Tom Earley, Danny Geraghty, Cathal Hallinan, Jason Gibbons and Padraic O’Connor threatened to upset all forecasts of a Killererin win. Nothing but a whisker separated them in the end. Although forced back on their own lines in the second half they did not lose heart. They did Mayo proud.
Club Stars debate begins once againYOU have seen the thirty, and who is not there may have raised more eyebrows than who is. Not a Nallen or Higgins or a McGarrity or a Kilcoyne or an O’Neill in sight.
Some hardy annuals still survive, although how many make the final cut will be revealed only on the night of December 3 on the occasion of The Mayo News/O’Neills Club Stars Banquet.
Selecting the thirty was no simple matter. So many were in contention for the various positions that very little separated them. Together with colleagues Sean Feeney, Eamon Clarke and Austin Garvin, we clinically probed every performance and evaluated each in the team context.
Often it boiled down to fine combing their performances, to measuring the minutest details of their contributions… how they won ball, tackled, scored, defended. And at the end of it all you wondered did you get it right.
Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the nominations are made up of players from county senior finalists Ballintubber and Castlebar… ten from the new champions, and seven from Castlebar. But a total of eleven clubs are represented.
Four of last year’s team of the year are among this year’s nominations… Alan Feeney and Neil Douglas (Castlebar Mitchels), Trevor Howley (Knockmore) and Alan Dillon (Ballintubber), which means that many new faces will grace this year’s Club Stars team. It will take a few more demanding hours of head scratching to reach agreement on the final fifteen.
It is important to note that selections are made from championship performances only. League contributions are not taken into account, however significant they have been.
The league may have been kinder to some players throughout the season than the championship, and the fact that they have not received Club Star nominations does not diminish their overall ability in the eyes of the selectors.
The annual Mayo News/O’Neills Club Stars function is a big social night in the Mayo GAA calender. It recognises gruelling hours of work put in by the players and mentors as they strive for peak fitness.
The proceeds of this year’s function in Knockranny House Hotel on December 3 go to Mayo Cystic Fibrosis. Tickets are €60 and can be had by calling 098 25311.
No stopping Parke’s push for more titlesA MAGNIFICENT first half performance set the scene for an impressive Connacht junior final win by Parke on Sunday.
Summoning all their collective ability at McHale Park the Mayo champions blitzed Eslin of Leitrim to lead by thirteen points at the interval and claim virtual victory before kicking another ball.
In the end it didn’t end quite so decisively. Seven points separated them, attributable as much to a slackening of pressure on their part as much as to the Leitrim champions’ revival.
It was a brave effort by Eslin to swing back against such devastating odds, but the mountain was too high, and they were clearly too dazzled by the brilliance of that first-half performance by Parke in which every member of the team played a vital part.
Now they head for Manchester for the semi-final against the British champions… and lest they bask too deeply in the glory of this notable victory, Frank McHale will be advising against complacency. Otherwise a banana skin might await them.
Just a thought …THE victories of Ballintubber and Parke have lifted the spirit of their respective communities these past few weeks. In their celebrations is reflected the life force of the GAA, especially at times of depressing news.
