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KEVIN McSTAY The anticipation, expectation and celebration of county final day is what it’s all about.
POINTING THE FINGER Referee Martin Murphy gestures to Ballina’s David Brady as tempers fray in the background during Sunday’s Mayo Senior FC Final. Pic: Michael Donnelly
The county final comes to Kosovo
Kevin McStay THE anticipation, expectation and, for one team, the celebration of county final day is what the local football championships are really all about. If you are a first-timer or perhaps, you have been away from this September event for a few years then all the better. And if you are Ballina and Charlestown, two teams well-used to the fag end of a football year in recent years, there is still an element of magic about the week. I am based here in Kosovo where county final day is not anticipated or indeed celebrated with quite the same gusto. Other things to be getting on with I suppose. Like how to feed yourself, how to cloth yourself and where you might put down your head down for some rest. With winter fast approaching and night-time temperatures of minus twenty degrees Celsius to contend with for November through to January, one immediately understands their focus is on matters other than the football. A small bit of background then for those interested in the area commonly referred to as the Balkans. Kosovo is located in the southern region of Serbia which itself was a part of the former Yugoslavia. Under the iron fist rule of Marshall Tito, the country remained stable but with the fall of communism and the death of Tito, things began to unravel. You will immediately recognise the names of new states here in the Balkans: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia, all tangled together once and forming the old Yugoslavia. Tito himself put it perfectly when describing the difficulties he faced as the leader of this country: ‘I am the leader of one country with two alphabets, three languages, four religions, five nationalities, six republics surrounded by seven countries with eight minorities’. Some man for one man! Now you must have a sense then of what it is like to be the county board chairman. Or the county manager of clubmen who sometimes speak with different tongues (forked?). And why are we Irish here at all? What is the nature of the conflict? In post-war scenarios, two different and opposing sides usually emerge. The web of history, religion and atrocities generally adds to a mix that has, at best, yet to settle. A situation you might describe as ‘calm but tense’. Kosovo can be described as a province of Serbia but one the Serbs are keen to retain. An analogy with home might be Munster looking for independence from Ireland. Soon the Kosovars hope to declare independence in much the same way the states I mentioned earlier did. What happens then is largely unknown but the Irish here will endeavour to provide a safe and secure environment for the local population in our area. In preparation for a smooth hand-over of facilities and command a small group of us, the advance party, arrived here in Camp Clarke over a week ago. Irish personnel are spread all over Kosovo but the main concentration is here in this camp, about thirty minutes from the capital Pristina. We are preparing to take over command next week from the current group, a group made up predominantly of west of Ireland soldiers. The operational company is commanded by Commandant Tom McGrath who hails from Ballintubber. Mayo News readers might remember his brother Shane who worked the sports pages and beyond, of this newspaper in the recent past. Captain John Marley is Tom’s second-in-command and his father hails from the Glenhest area while mother is a McDonnell from Crossmolina. Lieutenant Kate Hanrahan, a native of Newport, is part of this unit also and then we have the military legend that is Corporal Joe Rowland from Crossmolina. Too many Mayo Larrys in the one part of the world methinks and so they will depart over the next seven days, home to their families and loved ones, after an outstanding tour of duty.
MEANWHILE, back at the ranch. The text from the match commentator listed the website but unfortunately, he failed to tell me there were two links – one a country and western station, the other the recognisable, to me at least, sound of Midwest Radio. As the minutes ticked down to throw-in time I was wondering just when Seamus Duffy and ‘Come to the Ceilí’ was going to sign off. The clock had ticked past four; did Sean Feeney know of my difficulties and decided to delay the postponement? Still nothing from the Finno and Fitz Show – what’s the story? A quick call to my wing-man fixes all; go to the ‘other’ link and with eighteen minutes gone in the county final I hear their dulcet tones. But what news is this: Ballina are trailing by six points to one! And playing badly; amend that, not playing at all. We don’t often see a tactical substitution of a team’s main player unless injury is the reason but when a player is about to blow the head gasket, it can be time to move. David ‘Ginger’ Tiernan has a boxing type moniker and though a few thousands miles away from the action, I felt his over zealous attention to the body of the Ballina dangerman, Ronan McGarrity. It’s a strange position to find yourself in as a manager, your most trusted leader is unable to keep his discipline and you must waste a substitution slot to check this lack of composure. At half-time my own sense of the situation was Ballina were in trouble; okay, the scoreline said only a kick of the ball separated the teams but the truth is Charlestown had played all the football. But when the mist descended on Tiernan, their supremacy was infected and his benching coincided with Ballina announcing their arrival at this year’s venue and finally entering the match for the first time. Would the Tiernan substitution prove fatal? Within minutes of the restart, despite the reappearance of ‘Ginger’, Ballina goaled through Ger Brady by means of their over-used, but eventually decisive, route one tactic of long ball to David Brady at full-forward. In the first half Sean Lenehan had played Brady well but now it was pay back time. DB had put Ballina into the final and was now about to win it almost single-handed. He netted within minutes of the brother and then started the assist to Liam and onto Stephen Hughes who hit number three. And that was the story of this year’s final: three goals in just under ten minutes knocked the stuffing out of Charlestown. If I am harsh I must trace it back to their lack of discipline in the few minutes before the interval. It sounded to me like Ronan McGarrity was being targeted and why remains a mystery; Charlestown were in complete command, just keep her between the ditches and the game might be over at half-time. Indeed only for referee Martin Murphy blowing the game up deep in injury-time, Tiernan would have walked. One should never give a sucker a second chance and with the Stephenites on the ropes, gasping for air, Charlestown allowed them get a foothold in the game. Instead of going in with a five or six point lead, Ballina had it down to the single goal. You know the rest. Title number 36 (I thought it was more than that but will bow to the commentator’s greater knowledge) went to the club and if the end was a bit wobbly, it was obvious enough with ten minutes to go, Charlestown had blown it. In fact with Ballina accruing 9 scores to the losers’ 12, you might argue the best team lost. Listening to a game on radio, it is impossible to be conclusive on such possibilities. If having your name mentioned the most is any measure of your influence on a game then Paul McGarry (Ballina) and Kevin Deignan (Charlestown) must have played great games. Look at the scoring and you would have to give big bouquets to Ger Brady. And David togged big too with his hands all over the three vital goals. Well done to Mr Higgins, my old teacher in the primary. He has served this club splendidly, first as a winning county championship goalkeeper, then as an official at all levels but especially with Bord na nÓg. And last Sunday he got his team over the line again. Happy days indeed. Their eyes will now look to Connacht and the draw is very favourable. This column goes into hibernation and will be unable to follow their tracks through the winter but come the spring, my expectation is this side will have trained over the previous Christmas break.
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Kevin McStay
