Are Ballagh’ the real deal? Sean Rice
W ITH almost seismic authority Ballaghaderreen have crashed back onto the championship scene ... and the tremors will have reached all the way to Charlestown and Crossmolina.
But Ballaghaderreen have treaded this perilous path before. They have seen their status swell in the wake of wins as emphatic as they enjoyed on Sunday ... only to have their dreams come crashing down around them.
Now, many are wondering was Sunday’s comprehensive win over Ballintubber just another bubble.
We’ll have a better idea of their title prospects when they take on the challenge of Crossmolina in the semi-final at the same venue next Sunday. We’ll learn whether once more they have flattered only to deceive.
They almost didn’t get the chance to parade their qualities in the semi-final. Ballintubber should have won the drawn game. The shock of almost being dumped out of the championship by rank outsiders must have fairly rattled the eastern challengers. Once more they had misjudged the strength of the opposition.
Having returned to McHale Park with greater respect for Ballintubber, they proceeded to inflict a crushing defeat on them. Before they locked horns at all – while standing for the national anthem, and a minute’s silence in memory of Ballaghaderreen’s great clubman Gerry Clarke, who died during the week – the difference between them in height and weight and strength was patently obvious.
With the likes of Pearce Hanley at centre half-back, James Kilcullen and Barry Kelly in the middle of the field and the awesome frames of Barry Regan, Barry Solan and Andy Moran up front, Ballintubber in comparison were reduced to mere pygmies.
Not until the second quarter was all of that power released. As soon as Andy Moran swept through the defence for their first goal the full impact of their collective muscle hit home.
Moran sparked the scoring frenzy, and Barry Regan took over the baton. Both were at the heart of most of the attacks, and Ballintubber did not have the resources to counter this threat.
On Alan Dillon, as ever, they relied, and he did not disappoint. Ruairí O’Connor, Liam Tunney and Damien McGing also did their best. But their output could not match what the Hanleys, Moran, Regan, Kelly, Conway, Drake and company collectively produced.
Crossmolina upset Ballaghaderreen’s hopes two years ago in the final. They had been clear favourites to win their first title in 34 years, having brushed all opposition aside. It went to a replay, but the greater experience of the Deel Rovers side won out in the end. They’ll replay that battle next Sunday.
The personnel has not changed much in the meantime, but the greater pressure will be on Ballaghaderreen to shake off the dogged challenge of a Crossmolina team still backboned by James Nallen, Peadar Gaardiner, Ciaran McDonald, Joe Keane and Brian Benson.They have been less subdued this season on their path to the final. The all-conquering image of two years ago has faded in the wake of their defeats to Crossmolina, and to Ballina last year in the semi-final. Whether they have been mentally toughened by the pain of those defeats we’ll know on Sunday.
NEW RULES ON TRIAL A FURTHER bid to clean up Gaelic games is being made by the powers-that-be with the introduction of rule changes on a trial basis in the provincial and national leagues beginning in January.
The changes relate to six fouls that have been classified as ‘highly disruptive’. In each case the offending player will be yellow-carded and sent off, but he can be replaced by one of the six subs on the bench.This action, it is claimed, will punish the individual rather than the team.
The new disciplinary measures will apply to the following six infringements:
1 To pull down an opponent.
2 To trip an opponent with hands.
3 To deliberately body collide with an opponent after he has played the ball away or for the purpose of taking him out of a movement.
4 To bring an arm around the neck of an opponent.
5 To wrestle with an opponent, on the ground, and away from the play.
6 To remonstrate in an aggressive way with a match official.
Referees will undergo a training course before the changes are introduced in January, but while all six transgressions warrant stiff penalties, match officials will be under pressure to ensure that the decisions they make are seen to be correct.
A couple of those rules are a bit more complex than they might at first seem. To bring an arm around the neck of an opponent is a dangerous foul when committed openly in an attempt to stop an opponent. But often it is done accidentally ... when the opponent is stooped while being tackled, or when both are in a jump for possession. To differentiate the deliberate from the accidental will not be easy if an injustice is to be avoided.Nor will it be easy to identify the guilty party when opponents wrestle on the ground away from the play. Who wrestled with whom? Who hauled whom to the ground? Only when it is brought to his attention will a referee often see what is happening ... but it is then too late to spot the aggressor, and the innocent is also punished. Vigilant linesmen will be essential.
It is good to see attention being given to an indiscretion that for too often has gone unpunished by referees ... taking out an opponent as he moves to take a return pass. But to be successful is dissuading players from engaging in these tactics, the assistance of linesmen will again be paramount. Indecision and wrong calls could be fatal.
The rules are being introduced as an experiment for the various provincial leagues in January and the ensuing Allianz League in the spring. Results of the experiments will be laid before annual congress in Cork at Easter when they will be either permanently adopted or rejected.
Nothing in the classified ‘highly disruptive’ list of infringements covers those who cheat and feign being fouled by diving. Admittedly it is not a common feature of Gaelic games ... yet. But that sordid element of behaviour has begun to creep in and needs to be stamped out before it gets a grip.
The changes are to be welcomed and their successful implementation will go a long way in ridding the game from much of the cynical fouling that tends to be regarded in some quarters as legitimate tactics in plotting victory.
TRYING TO GET A LOOK IN THE GAA owe more to their followers than the slapdash choice of venue which they imposed on them for the replay of the All-Ireland minor final. Over 15,000 supporters, the vast majority from Mayo, travelled to Longford for the match, a pitch totally unsuited for a big crowd.
Huge tailbacks on every approach road forced hundreds of people to abandon their cars and walk many miles to and from the ground for a match in which many got only glimpses of the play. Even very tall people were unable to follow play along the east wings because the slope on the terrace was not steep enough.
Supporters deserve more consideration in the selection of venues for their €15 than was given them in this instance.
