60 minutes from immortality.
Castlebar Mitchel’s and Ballyboden St. Enda’s will leave it all on the line for their shot at the holy grail on St. Patrick’s Day.
After both never-say-die outfits came through two tense semi-finals after extra time, it’s Dublin versus Mayo at Croke Park next Thursday and we’ve put it to debate: who’s going to win?
Conán Doherty says… Ballyboden
They called Clonmel unlucky. They called Ballyboden the beneficiaries of a stupid rule. The scoreboard called them winners. The record books remember them as victors.
Declan O’Mahoney’s dismissal in the All-Ireland semi-final was met with controversy in the aftermath because St. Enda’s held on and were able to introduce a replacement for him in extra time. It might be an unnecessary law, so what? It is the law. And nothing was made of the Dubliners’ grit to get them to that stage.
Clonmel boss Charlie McKeever said afterwards that his side were probably two fouls away from an All-Ireland final.
They let St. Enda’s play and it’s certainly not what Castlebar will do on March 17 but the capital champs weren’t as naive. They did what was necessary. They always do.
We can talk for days about the talent lining this Ballyboden outfit.
We can talk about Paul Durcan, about Michael Darragh MacAuley, about Kernin and Keaney. We can talk about their steel-like rearguard, their frightening physicality, and, Jesus, their pace.
But this side is different to the other talents that we’ve seen time and again advance. This side is so much more than its parts and it’s even more than the huge catchment area its borders command.
Ballyboden St. Enda’s, lining right through its core, is awash with blue and white blood. There’s a huge heart there to match that huge community and there’s an unnerving sense of obligation from all of its club members to the cause of that one crest.
Ballyboden have talent, we know that. But they have heart. They have adversity and question marks and naysayers trying to put them down and, every time, they overcome it. Every time, they do it for their club.
And when you put a group of good men, a group of talented men and fuel them with a desire to honour the crest sitting over their hearts, you have a fearsome combination.
You have a winning combination.
Ballyboden have that blend. They have everything required to be All-Ireland champions.
Conor Heneghan says… Castlebar
Less than two years have passed since Castlebar Mitchels left Croke Park with broken hearts after being given a lesson by a Diarmuid Connolly-inspired St. Vincent’s, but it will be a different outfit walking into HQ this Paddy’s Day.
Granted, the personnel will largely be the same, but it’s hard to see the current Mitchels outfit getting taken for 4-12 as they were in 2014 and going through such a chastening experience.
Call it a cliché, but those involved have absorbed the lessons and emerged stronger as a result.
Not only are they battle-hardened, they’re meaner at the back and more potent in attack and have passed two of the biggest tests any club team could face in their last two games.
As I mentioned when tipping Castlebar to defeat Crossmaglen in the semi-final, Castlebar’s All-Ireland credentials had been touted long before they defeated Breaffy to win another Mayo county title last year.
That wasn’t arrogance on Castlebar’s part; the talk was coming from followers on the Mayo club scene who had witnessed the way in which they had seamlessly progressed through one of the hardest county championships in the country.
There’s something about this Mitchels team alright and it’s been evident from a long way off.
When they struggled in the face of a Crossmaglen onslaught at the beginning of a classic in Breffni Park last month, there was no sign of panic when a lesser team would have collapsed.
They regrouped, stuck it out until half-time, hit the Ulster side with a similar burst at the start of the second half and won the game the way winners do.
Some scoffed at the spoiling tactics employed at the end of the game but like it or not, sometimes you do what’s necessary to succeed and Mayo teams have been on the wrong end of that manner of defeat for long enough.
Castlebar’s big names – Barry Moran and Patrick Durcan – delivered once again against Crossmaglen, but as they have been doing all year, the supporting cast more than did their bit too.
Tom Cunniffe eventually got a handle on Jamie Clarke, Eoghan Reilly recovered from a bad miss to have a stormer from centre back, Neil Douglas kicked his frees and Richie Feeney did the right thing at the right time as always.
Given his black card nightmare in the 2014 final, Feeney will be particularly keen to succeed this time around, but individual motivation plays second fiddle to the collective in this Castlebar side and what a formidable collective it is.
Mitchels fell to the individual brilliance of Connolly two years ago, but it will be the effort of a team that is more than the sum of its parts that will get them over the line on Paddy’s Day.
Castlebar to win with three or more points to spare.
