On a wicked winter's day, but in their own heartland, Ballina Stephenites escaped the past to finally lay claim to the AIB Connacht club title yesterday. Playing on their own pitch, Ballina - who had never previously won the title - turned in an extremely disciplined performance to comfortably overcome Roscommon Gaels to lift the Shane McGettigan Cup, named after the young Leitrim footballer who was tragically killed in the United States during the summer.
This was an awesome Ballina performance, especially the opening 20 minutes or so. In that time, they ran in 1-5 without reply to take a vice-like grip on the match and then showed composure and self-assurance in the poor conditions to ensure that Gaels could only chisel away unsuccessfully at that lead.
An indication of the conditions which the players had to endure was that pvc tarpaulin (which had protected the heavily sanded goal-mouth areas from heavy rain) was removed little more than a half hour before the throw-in. Elsewhere, the pitch was extremely soft and incessant further rainfall ensured that the ball at times resembled a bar of wet soap with players adopting some strange and weird stances in efforts to win possession.
In many ways, Ballina came of age in that spectacular opening spell. Despite playing their fourth championship game in 15 days, Ballina's players defied the clinging mud to bounce around like spring lambs and threw the gauntlet down after just 10 seconds with the game's opening point, from Brian McStay. And Gaels' goalkeeper Chris Grogan had only kicked out the ball when he was retrieving it almost immediately after Denis Coen kicked Ballina's second point. All this within a minute of the game's start. Whirlwind stuff. Certainly, Ballina adapted quicker and better to the conditions - and the fine start caused considerable alarm in the Roscommon ranks, who compounded their failure to win first-time possession by fouling their opponents and giving Ballina the opportunity to launch further assaults. The Roscommon team conceded 10 frees, to Ballina's three, in the opening 22 minutes of the game when all the real damage was inflicted on them.
Roscommon's full-back line were finding the going especially tough. Ballina full forward Paul McGarry was proving to be a good linchpin, showing cleverly for the ball and laying it off to incoming attackers, while further outfield Liam McHale was an inspiring figure.
McHale, in fact, even managed to crash through the Roscommon defence at one stage to kick a point, and Martin McGrath, who had a good game, showed he was in the mood for free-taking by landing the first two of his personal haul of five points in this dominant period. The piece de resistance, however, arrived in the 22nd minute when Ballina conjured up their first goal of their championship campaign.
McGrath showed a willingness to get himself dirty by diving through a sea of legs to hand-pass the ball to McGarry, and his shot was smacked with gusto to the top right-hand corner of the net. Grogan made a very brave, but ultimately vain, attempt to save it and the goal caused a number of Roscommon players to put hands to heads in frustration and wonderment at what was happening to them.
In fairness, they dug in and Alan Nolan kicked two points from frees to leave them six points adrift at the half-time break. It was always going to be tough in the second half, though. The decision to switch Fergie O'Donnell from centre forward to midfield did improve matters in that sector and ensured that McHale and David Brady didn't get it all their own way.
Still, Ballina were still very much the dominant force. Nolan and Ross Shannon worked very hard to create something for Gaels but, more often than not, they ended up shunted down a blind alley by a Ballina defence who marked tightly. A measure of the home side's determination not to relax was demonstrated by a quite superb diving block by the industrious Brian Heffernan on Brendan Penney late on.
The Gaels' best move, and finish, came in the 32nd minute when Clifford McDonald, James Comiskey and Nolan combined in a swift end-to-end movement that finished with Nolan kicking a superb point. But such moments were few and far between for the Roscommon men as Ballina worked tirelessly for each other, as if their lives depended on the outcome.
And so it was that Ballina, rather than the Gaels, were the side to finish with a flourish. Knowing that each and every attack needed to count, the Roscommon team saw their one real goal chance, from Shannon, fall gently into Ballina goalkeeper John Healy's hands and another shot from O'Donnell drift wide in the dying minutes before Ballina showed them how it should be done when McGrath kicked another good point from a free and substitute Cathal Deasy celebrated his appearance on the pitch by kicking the game's final score.
Overall, it was a fine team performance from Ballina with no obvious weak link. Perhaps, it was an endorsement for the old adage that a competitive match is better than any number of training sessions as Ballina, playing their fourth game in just over two weeks, looked keener and sharper than the Roscommon side who had been placed in a limbo of sorts for five weeks waiting to play the provincial final.
But nobody could begrudge Ballina their provincial title at last and, on this performance, nobody would. Indeed, Ballina are entitled to believe that the dream can go on and that they can repeat the process at a national level.
Ballina: J Healy; B Ruane, J Devenney, D Leydon; G Brady, B Heffernan, S Sweeney; L McHale (0-1), D Brady; B McStay (0-1), D Coen (0-1), M McGrath (0-5, frees); L Brady (0-1), P McGarry (1-0), K Lynn. Subs: C Deasy (0-1) for B McStay (55 mins); K Duffy for L Brady (60 mins).
Roscommon Gaels: C Grogan; B McNeela, K Keegan, P Hoey; C Heneghan, C McDonald, M Ryan; L MacNeill, P Oates; J Comiskey, F O'Donnell, G Kelly (0-1); R Shann, A Nolan (0-5, four frees), B Penney. Sub: P Noone for Comiskey (44 mins).
Referee: E Neary (Sligo).
