Knockmore look well equipped to retain the Moclair Cup
SIDELINE CUT: BY JOHN MELVIN
KNOCKMORE’S arrival in 2020 when they claimed their first senior football championship title in 13 years (they won back-to-back titles in 1996-97) has to be seen as a welcome boost for a championship that had become fairly predictable over the last decade in particular as Ballintubber and Castlebar Mitchels shared out most of the titles between them.
Since, and including 2010, just four teams have lifted the Moclair Cup – Ballintubber (won five), Castlebar Mitchels (won four, including a three-in-a row) while Ballaghaderreen and Knockmore claimed the other two.
The previous 10 years were dominated by one of the finest teams in the modern era - Crossmolina - who collected five county titles (six if you include 1999), while Ballina were up there in terms of being a top quality team by winning three, Charlestown (2009) and Ballaghaderreen (2008) taking home one each.
The difference in the two decades was that Crossmolina and Ballina achieved what other teams failed to do - win an All-Ireland club title.
The challenge for Ray Dempsey’s young team will be to defend their county title and I expect them to do that successfully in 2021 when they can build on the experience garnered from last year with a team that has a very young look about them.
They also bring with them the vital component of physicality, which has always been part of the armoury of the great Knockmore teams of the past, in particular the county title winning teams from the ‘80s and the ‘90s come to mind.
The current Knockmore squad were building up an unwanted reputation as the nearly men of Mayo club football following numerous quarterfinal, semi-final and final appearances, only to come up short when the chips were really down.
In most previews this scribe has penned in relation to the men from the Parish of the Backs, Knockmore are always portrayed, and rightly so, as strong championship contenders but time and time again they failed to deliver on their pedigree for various reasons.
Fortune, in fairness, did not always smile on them, particularly in 2016 when they were ravaged by injuries to key players and paid a heavy price when crashing to Castlebar Mitchels, who completed the double and went on the following year to bag three-in-a-row.
So what magic wand did Ray Dempsey, a proven player himself at club and county level, bring to the table?
Well, the most important qualities he instilled in his team were desire and grit but they were able to back those attributes with some quality attacking football which saw them defeat Breaffy in the county final of 2020.
In many ways Knockmore were similar to some Mayo teams of the past who lacked that attacking edge.
Knockmore’s success was built on good counter-attacking and building from the back but that is of little use if you don’t have the finishing power up front and Knockmore got that spot-on last year.
Breaffy, like Knockmore, have made the podium on a few occasions and in many ways can be compared to the Mayo senior team having lost four finals in the last eight years (losing to Mitchels in 2013 and 2015, beaten by Ballintubber in 2018, and, of course, last year going down to Knockmore when it was felt that this was perhaps the best chance they would ever have of winning their first ever county title.
It wasn’t to be for Breaffy but they can take heart from what Knockmore have done and I still believe their day will yet come before the O’Shea brothers and many others who continue to wear the Breaffy colours with pride will be rewarded for their perseverance.
Of course, no team deserves to win an All-Ireland or a county title because they lost a few due to sheer bad luck. They have to earn it and when you look at the list of winners over the last 20 years, two teams stand out - Ballina (2005) and Crossmolina (2001) - both going where no other Mayo club have gone by wining an All-Ireland club title.
Others such as Castlebar Mitchels (1994, 2014 and 2016) and Garrymore (1982) made the final but lost, while Knockmore did get to the final in 1997, and both Ballina and Crossmolina were beaten in finals.
That door was closed to Knockmore last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and we will never know just how well they would have been compared to teams such as Corofin, Crossmaglen, Dr. Crokes, St. Brigid’s, St. Vincent’s and Nemo Rangers, to mention just a few who brought home the Andy Merrigan Cup.
They may get that opportunity yet if they can retain their Mayo title with the strong possibility of the All-Ireland club championship being played towards the end of this year with the clubs taking centre stage following the All-Ireland championship which will be completed by July,
The pandemic has destroyed a lot of things, notably the lives of so many people, but it will never break the spirit of a resilient nation and the GAA family in particular have coped well under the restrictions that had to be imposed to safeguard the health of us all.
It will be interesting to see if the vaccine will rescue the situation this year when we might see the crowds return to bring back the atmosphere which has been absent at all the big games.
So, the questions to be answered at club level in 2021 will be familiar ones but top of the list will be if Knockmore can retain their title.
Second for me is will we see Ballintubber bounce back, and thirdly, can Castlebar Mitchels freshen up the scene with the talent that is emerging at underage level!?
The other teams that surprised a few of us last year included Ballaghaderreen who were just pipped by Ballintubber in the 2018 final and were probably the unluckiest team last year when they lost two key players in the semi-final against Breaffy, one who was injured early on, while they lost a second to a double yellow card.
Newly promoted intermediate champions, Balla, should also prove interesting and I expect they will be well able to take on the heavyweights on their return to senior championship football.
And do not forget Westport and Ballina will be back to prove they are better teams than their 2000 campaign would suggest, while my team of the year award for bringing excitement, drama and goals to the scene has to be The Neale.
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