The case for Ballinrobe to become kings of Mayo

Everyone loves an upset. Well, unless you're on the receiving end of it. If there's one team that has earned the reputation of partycrashers, it's Ballinrobe. They certainly flew under the radar with an unimpressive league campaign. And even on the first matchday of the intermediate championship, the Lake District men fell to Ballyhaunis and it looked like their bid for the Sweeney Cup had been nipped in the bud.

But an old proverb goes: Peak at the right time. And in their second group game against The Neale, Ballinrobe ground out a win in this derby. Soon a pattern emerged which would prove to be Ballinrobe's winning recipe. With strong, powerful and athletic players in their middle eight, they were able to squeeze the life out of their opponents. It came to the fore when they held The Neale to only 12 points and Castlebar B to just eight.

Then, they delivered their masterpiece in the quarter-final. Mayo player Diarmuid Duffy, James Murphy, young talents Barry Langan and Cian May and their colleagues held the season’s in-form team, Ardnaree, to just three points in the whole second half. The Moysiders, up until that point had been putting up huge scores, having amassed 247 across league and championship until Ballinrobe came to town and shut them down.

If it happens once, one could be led to believe it was just a blip, but Ballinrobe repeated the trick in the semi-final when they held hot favourites Moy Davitts to just eight points. Granted, it took a Man of the Match performance from goalkeeper Luke Jennings to seal the win, but the man between the posts is as much a part of the team as everybody else.

Moy Davitts were held to only four points from open play. Ballinrobe are a team that simply doesn't concede much. They've clicked, found a way to frustrate their opponents and are bundles of energy. Ewan Duffy shows that he is more than just a shooter, a freetaker. Everyone is chipping in, doing their bit.

We write a lot about momentum, and Garrymore in the senior championship have been the team with the most of it so far. Similar can be said of Ballinrobe, who have built steadily. You cannot buy confidence. You build it over time and Ballinrobe have accumulated cart loads of it in a matter of weeks. To serve a proverb: They peak at the right time.