Recalling 'Deliverance Day' for one Mayo GAA club

Twenty years ago today Crossmolina Deel Rovers won the All-Ireland club senior football championship final with a 0-16 to 1-12 victory over Nemo Rangers in Croke Park, Dublin.

John Melvin was there on the day (April 16, 2001 – which was Easter Monday that year) to report on what turned into a very special occasion.

Below is the report he filed for that week's Connaught Telegraph under the headline 'Deliverance Day!' Don't forget to pick up a copy of this week's Connaught for an in-depth look back at the Deel Rovers' crowning achievement 20 years ago.

THERE comes a moment in time when you can feel you have arrived at the place you always wanted to be, but just could never find. We in Mayo have journeyed to this destination a thousand times before; we have reached out for the Holy Grail, only to have it snatched cruelly from our grasp at the last moment.

Such a moment arrived in Croke Park late, very late, on Monday evening. Colin Corkery, a giant of a man, who had menacingly cruised the shallow waters around the edge of the large parallelogram for 60 minutes, had wandered out deep near the sideline, collected the ball and looked up, as he had done for Cork and for Nemo Rangers so many times in the past.

In his hands lay a reprieve for Cork, who were a point adrift and beginning to sink as the sands of time began shifting from under their feet, the Crossmolina tidal wave having pounded them relentlessly for a large part of the second half.

It was well within his vast range but, on this occasion, the feet of granite, which had been a colossus for his team in the past, and indeed in the first half, turned to clay, his effort shooting across the bows of the Crossmolina goalmouth, his hands already holding his head, knowing he had just passed by the last chance saloon and the 'sold' sign was up.

It was one of the many defining moments in an All-Ireland club final which will long live in the memory of Mayo people, but will hold a special place in the hearts of Crossmolina and a team who showed that when footballing ability is matched with self-belief and resilience, nothing is impossible and the ultimate prize can be achieved.

We salute Crossmolina not just for being the first team to bring the All-Ireland club title to Mayo, but for being the first team that really believed they could do, and now have the evidence to prove it.

Other teams did not even get a look-in. And while the blistering second-half display of power and panache from Crossmolina, in virtually every area, was responsible for claiming victory in the end, it could also be argued that their ability to hang on when the tide was certainly flowing against them in the first half was a major factor in sustaining them until they got the reprieve of the half-time whistle.

If Barry Heffernan had not brought the best from his mental and physical attributes Crossmolina might well been blown out the window in the first 10 minutes, when he rescued them with two marvellous saves, Nemo finding a few secret passages through what had always been a solid Crossmolina defence.

Even without the goals, Nemo had the swagger of champions elect, dictating the pace of the game, leading by four points at one stage, and never less than two in front in the first half except when Joe Keane's opening point for Crossmolina, in the 10th minute, had the score at 0-2 to 0-1. It could well have been 2-1 to 0-1.

Menacing presence

Torn Nallen was certainly troubled by Colin Corkery's menacing presence on the edge of area in that opening period. He plundered five for the first half, Nemo working the ball from their own defence, and you did have a sense of foreboding.

But Crossmolina were picking up a few crumbs, Keane with the opening point, the second, and the first of his magnificent seven, from McDonald in the 16th minute, leaving two between them, but when that was doubled to 0-7 to 0-3 on the 20 minute-mark, well there was certainly a few of us shifting uneasily in our seats, 'not again' being a thought coming to the mind.

In a three-minute spell McDonald and Paul McGuinness had pulled back two very important points but Nemo seemed to have that capacity that all great teams have, the capacity to respond immediately, midfielder Kevin Cahill restoring a three-point gap.

Maybe Nemo felt they had things sorted for they did become a little careless, over elaborating unnecessarily, although Crossmolina's defending was much tighter towards the end of the half, the full-back line of Rochford, Nallen and O'Reilly particularly impressive.

McGuinness and Joe Keane were to score critical points to get the deficit back to just one, and although Nemo finished with points from Joe Kavanagh and Alan Cronin, 0-10 to 0-7 was not a bad score for a team that had not really played well in that first half.

It was a different story for part two and a different game plan very much master-minded by the ubiquitous McDonald. McGuinness and Johnny Leonard were into it straight away and provided McDonald with the service, and his well taken score signalled his intent for the second half.

Inside three minutes Lavelle, a major contributor in that second half, won a free. McDonald obliged. By the 36th minute it was all square at 0-10 each, McDonald, who had earlier declined a free opportunity and gave the ball away with a badly directed pass, hitting the target.

When McGuinness cut in along the end-line to fist Crossmolina into the lead for the first time, you sensed something was happening – and it was.

Nemo were being outplayed, outmanoeuvered and out-thought as Crossmolina's tactical game began to create the scoring opportunities. A few were spurned, but the ones that were taken were the product of some fine engineering, their short-passing game working much better than their long-ball tactics in the first half.

Crossmolina were digging deep and instead of standing back as they had done in the first half, they were now running at Nemo, and the Cork side was showing signs of wear and tear.

The work of Lavelle and McGuinness, along with the pressure from Crossmolina's half-back line and that of Nallen and Moyles at midfield, was beginning to put Nemo under serious pressure, and it showed.

Superb point

A superb point from Johnny Leonard, via Lavelle, in the 41st minute had the gap back to two and when McDonald swung over a gem on the left foot, the gap was at three. Crossmolina had reeled off six points without reply and the second half was only 12 minutes old.

Corkery landed a 45' to stop the rot, and the next nine minutes remained scoreless until Joe Keane, another big player all day, won a crucial free for himself. McDonald obliged, and then came that memorable score from Pat McAndrew, whose love for wandering into the neighbour's orchard once again saw him pick the juiciest of apples.

Crossmolina waited patiently as they moved the Nemo defence around and it was McDonald who spotted McAndrew alone in the centre and his effort, from over 40 yards, now had Crossmolina leading for the first time by four points, a margin Nemo had enjoyed in the first half.

Five minutes from time Stephen O'Brien had it back to a dangerous three-point lead, but Liam Moffatt, always a presence on the edge of the area, was to score what proved to be, in the end, the point which ultimately separated these sides.

Cork came in search of the goal they wanted so desperately, who else but Corkery applying the finishing touch from a bulldozing Nemo move, but his joy was to turn to grief some moments later when he wasted that opportunity to send this game into extra-time.

If that drama was not enough to send the Crossmolina supporters into palpitation, the last action of the match had us all living on our nerves.

Barry Heffernan played a short ball from the kick-out to Tom Nallen when it might have been been better to have kicked the ball to Kingdom Come, but referee John Bannon adjudged the Crossmolina defender to be inside the square. The hop of a ball literally stood between Crossmolina and the terrible thought of this game going to extra-time.

We had seen the hop of a ball beat a Mayo team in Croke Park before, but out of the jungle of players came substitute Gerry O'Malley with the ball, and along with it, the title deed for the Andy Merrigan Cup. Crossmolina had finally reached their destination.

The Deel Rovers starting team on the day was: Barry Heffernan; Stephen Rochford, Tom Nallen, Colm Reilly; Peadar Gardner (0-1), Damien Mulligan, Pat McAndrew (0-1); James Nallen, Michael Moyles (0-1); Joe Keane (0-2), Kieran McDonald (0-7, 0-3f), Enda Lavelle; Paul McGuinness (0-2), Liam Moffatt (0-1), Johnny Leonard (0-1). The substitutes used were Gerry O'Malley and Thomas Loftus.

Postscript

Ciaran McDonald was awarded not only the man of the match award (for 'the perfect performance to end the great Croke Park hoodoo over Mayo teams'), but also The Connaught Telegraph's Sports Start of the Week award.

As John Melvin wrote: “Croke Park has not been the happiest of homes to Ciaran McDonald but the maestro put the past behind him to plunder seven priceless points for Crossmolina, who made history by becoming the first ever Mayo club to win the All-Irleand title.

"There were many stars on show – Barry Heffernan, Steve Rochford, James Nallen, Michael Moyles, Joe Keane and Paul McGuinness, to mention a few – who were in with a strong claim for our award, but we felt McDonald's wizardry, his work and his panache at the end of the day could not be overlooked as a worthy recipient.”