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KEVIN McSTAY I know the men’s club championships are in full swing but I decided to take a break.
ON THE UP Mayo’s Aoife Herbert holds off Tyrone’s Siobhan McGarvey and Kellie Meehan during the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies SFC semi-final last Saturday evening. Pic: Sportsfile
My night in with the ladies
Kevin McStay I KNOW the men’s club championships are in full swing but my recent efforts at predicting winners are so poor, I decided to take a break. The end of an era in Crossmolina will be for another day and it is only right we reflect on their almost uninterrupted dominance for a decade or so. But, as I predicted they would be in the county final in 2007, and that Charlestown would fall way after a stirring draw the last day, I think you will understand my pain. This week’s column is exclusively about the game of ladies football. It felt a little chilly and the kids were wondering if I might put on the fire and get them a DVD. But they got a little impatient and started to channel hop with the remote. And it was then I saw a flash of green and red, a football and a warm-up that had the look of a match about to begin. Fire? Check. Movie? Later guys. I know there are other matters to attend to but when the colours of your native county is on the TV what is a man to do? That I did not know Mayo were about to face Tyrone in an All-Ireland ladies football game says something about the self-contained bubble the game is in just now at national level. There was a time when Mayo ladies demanded your attention and the game in general was a marketing-man’s dream. We will come back to that later. For now, once again, congratulations are in order as our ladies qualified for yet another final. It was a game they looked like winning many times over and often by a comfortable margin but they never seemed to get around to that conclusion. It was certainly a merited win and I had a sense that Tyrone were often hanging on by a thread. One of the reasons Mayo failed to cut the link is because they are not quite as accomplished as yesteryear. But there are other reasons; the tactical side of this game has developed quickly since last Mayo won the All Ireland and from my viewing last weekend, most of it is negative. It appears the ladies have borrowed many of the cynical developments the men’s game features on any given Sunday. We had jersey pulling, taunting, tripping, grabbing the tackling arm and getting players behind the ball in an effort to stifle play. Pretty standard stuff throughout the game and, of course, the star players come in for the most heat. It is accepted we don’t see a player of the calibre of Cora Staunton very often and the overall skills she possesses is just amazing. I read her recent interview in the Mayo News and was struck by the training and practice she puts in. Cora has been the marquee player in ladies football for so long, I guess she made her senior inter county debut at age seven. Probably played midfield that day! Her strength on the ball, speed and her accurate and lengthy kicking ability are unmatched currently and I cannot remember any player in recent history coming close to equalling this skill set. It is a terrible pity that the referees, and perhaps the rules, are unable to protect her and the number of blatant fouls teams will commit to stop her play is really unacceptable if the sport is to thrive. Ironically, the referee called a foul on her and awarded a penalty for a tackle that was hardly a close relation of a foul. Cora obliged by striking the penalty rebound to the net and for some unacceptable reason verbally abused the Tyrone net-minder on the way back. I say unacceptable because it is just that. No matter the ‘stick’ she was getting, and I have no doubt she got plenty, this cancer from the men’s game must be wiped out immediately. Later on two Mayo players saw yellow and in each case the referee was tricked by more cynical play, the tackling hand of the excellent Mayo centre-back, Martha Carter, was grabbed and the defender was pulled in on top of the attacker to win an undeserved free. The yellow card put the tin hat on the decision. Aoife Herbert is a serious footballer with a very high skill level and to see her head for the sin-bin was indeed an injustice too. The Tyrone defender literally launched herself into the tackle and led quite high with her arm in a way that might have injured the Mayo girl. And yet Mayo ran out winners because of their football ability and pace. I have no idea if they will be good enough to stop Cork’s three-in-a-row bid but with a handful of players well used to winning All-Irelands, I presume Mayo will take the game to the favourites. At times the speed of passes and support play was a joy and some of the points scored top drawer. Lots of the old familiar names, Egan, Lohan, Byrne, the McGings and the Heffernans, led the way but I saw enough from the younger players to have confidence for the final. Frank Browne is a guy that only sees the glass half full (any man involved with Mayo GAA has to have this attitude) and his positivity will help get the team ready for a win. It will be difficult, most finals are, but Cork fell this year already to Cora and the gang. Champions in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003, the last supremacy could have been a five in a row. For now they must content themselves with adding another – the drive for five continues. If it is to be realised, it is also hoped the final does not resort to the cynicism we all witnessed on TG4 last Saturday.
AND before I leave the ladies game, a few big questions need to be posed. I do not have the answers but am not so blind I cannot see the current stagnation and perhaps fall-off. Live TV has certainly hurt the product. Wrong. Too much live TV has damaged it and the selection of venues and times, very often in isolation and set against the men’s championship, is of little help. The crowds attending are small and it seems to me that mostly family and friends are travelling to support their heroes. Why not home venues for one of the teams in an effort to have a decent crowd attend? Why not on the under card of a men’s game and come to some arrangement about the gate? I understand the pricing structure is a little tasty with teenagers asked to fork out more than is reasonable. The provincial championships achieve very little other than a seeding that generally means little in the group phase. Being champion of the province is almost an after thought. And the idea of countrywide travel for the pool series is surely an error at a time when the financial pinch in counties is being felt. Waterford, Kerry and Dublin made up the four in our pool and you got a free ‘Round Ireland’ road holiday thrown in. And all these games to reduce the number to eight quarters? It hardly makes sense. Time to review and audit.
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Cillian O'Connor, Mattie Ruane, Donnacha McHugh, and Jordan Flynn were mentioned after the Connacht GAA FBD League final in Tuam Stadium between Mayo and Galway. Pics: Sportsfile
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Kevin McStay
