Fresh blood will stand to Ballina RFC says Billy McVann after Cawley Cup final
THE match didn't go Ballina's way but they will take their learnings from that to prepare for the start of their league campaign in two weeks' time at home to Corinthians.
The Cawley Cup final was definitely a special occasion for Billy McVann as he was picked to captain the Ballina team for the most recent matches: “It was a huge honour,” McVann said, speaking to The Mayo News after the match: “I've been down in the rugby club since a young lad, four or five years of age, and I'm 26 now. So to be able to lead the lads out into the cup final, maybe not the biggest cup final, but still huge honour. And it's something I definitely wouldn't have expected coming into this year, but truly cherished it over the last few games.”
A special recognition for the hooker, as his head coach Mickey Murphy explained: “He's generally the best player in the park, or most consistent player. Billy is a natural leader. Lads like him and follow him. He also shows some commitment, as he works in Dublin and plays in Ballina.”
Regarding that final against Connemara last Sunday afternoon at Crowley Park, the Galway men were good at exploiting the space they were given and Ballina will have to take their learnings from the match, as they switched off in certain moments, as head coach Murphy analysed.
“Physically we matched them, but when they got into open space, they were very good. They ran good lines and kept the ball alive really well.”
It certainly wasn't the set pieces that cost Ballina to claim the silverware on this occasion. If anything, the forward pack stood their ground, bolstered by some fresh young talent.
“The series of the three games we played, including the cup wins over Westport and Tuam, the amount of young players that we've led into the team is 100 per cent going to stand to us this year. That was the main thing for us that we'll take from this, and the likes of our back row there, Jason Duggan, Keane Fitzpatrick and Dylan Rice, two of them are 18, one of them 19.”
The injection of fresh blood was particularly welcome for Ballina as they have ten players on their injury list at the moment. And the three teenagers in the back row, plus James O'Boyle in the second row and Liam Masterson as scrum-half as well have shown that they are bright talents for the future.
Ballina indeed had a good run into this Cawley Cup final. First, they beat newly promoted Westport on their home turf on a 22-12 score line. And then in the semi-final, the North Mayo men dispatched Tuam 41-19.
They will take encouragement from the results. The season for the Moysiders kicks off with a home match against Corinthians on Saturday evening, October 11, at 7.30pm. Some time has passed since Ballina's heart breaking defeat in the Connacht Junior 1A League semi-final in February. The Mayo men were leading with seconds to go, Creggs kept banging on the door and eventually found the space out on the wing to score a try. The conversion was tough, almost on the sideline, but the two points nudged the Galway men ahead by a single point. Billy McVann remembers: “At the time it felt like the end of the world, but looking back on it now, it's like you learn more from that than winning. I think that will come from Sunday as well. We'll learn more from that then. When we have Connemara down the line in the league, I can guarantee you that it definitely won't be the same mindset, or the naivety coming into the game as it was in that cup final.”
It will be Ballina's third attempt to win the league and try bounce back to the All-Ireland League, after getting relegated from Division 2C in 2024.