Final can B a stepping stone for Achill and Moygownagh to reach greater heights
For Achill and Moygownagh, the finalists in the TF Royal Hotel JFC B final tomorrow (Saturday) in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, the competition has offered them a good chance to regroup after going out of the A championship.
Looking forward to the game, Achill's Brian Gallagher said: “Obviously we were disappointed not to progress to the quarterfinals in the junior A. We’ve regrouped since. Our season could’ve ended six weeks ago so we’ve used this time.
“Training has gone very well and it’s good to get a couple of wins under the belt. We have a final to look forward to and any year you get a bit of silverware is good.”
It has been a struggle for rural clubs at the moment. Is that Brian's experience?
“There’s been a lot of talk about it. There’s been a lot of good work done at underage with Bord na nÓg. Achill has not amalgamated with anybody so we’ve been able to have teams at all levels underage.
“We’ve had wins at Under 13, Under 15 and Under 19 this year, and that’s a testament to the people working in the club. Hopefully that will progress into the senior grades and our junior teams in the years to come. But it wouldn’t be possible without all the effort behind the scenes that people don’t see.”
In the group stages, Achill had a big game against Tourmakeady on the first day out. “We were both targeting it as we probably realised it was winner-takes-all,” said Brian. “We had a bumpy run-up to it with some injuries to senior players. We never got a good clip at them but that’s no excuse. Tourmakeady were the better team. They didn’t finish too far behind Cill Chomáin and they had a good season.
“But it (missing out on the A championship) gave us a chance to regroup. We look around our dressing room and we have our senior lads but also some young players who have just come out of Leaving Cert. We knew the competition would be good for them to get some game time and experience. It’ll stand for them coming into next season.”
And what about Moygownagh? “We haven’t played them for a couple of years. They were in the same group as Ballycastle and they only lost by a point. They put so much into that game and they would’ve been gutted to lose it by a point. But they’ve regrouped since then as well.
“They had a good win against Ballycroy. A lot of our lads might have fancied a shot at our local neighbours but it wasn’t to be. Moygownagh fully deserve their place in the final and I’m sure it will be a right ding-dong battle.”
For Brian, the junior B title would be a building block for Achill. “So much work goes on in underage and it’s not possible to go and win junior A at the first time of asking. If we can get a trophy to bring back with us, lads who are 17, 18 and 19 starting their careers with Achill, it’s a starting point and it’s silverware. It’ll be a driving force to push on in the junior A next year.”
TARGETED
According to Moygownagh manager David Finnerty, they would have targeted the B championship this year rather than the A.
“Any final is special and getting there is a battle. We had a tough semi-final and we snuck it in the end, so we're there now.
“At the beginning of the year we would have targeted the B. We would have tried to to have a crack at the A first and see who we got on but realistically were were figuring we were going to be in the B, and then we were going to have a go at that," said.
“We got a few injuries before the start of the A championship, which hampered our progress, and we only really go them back for the B.”
David, who still occasionally dons the goalkeeper jersey, has given a huge commitment to the north Mayo club for a long time – in and around 32 years of involvement. Squad change can be slow, he observed in that time, but it's starting to happen now.
“There's a nice group of lads there now. For a good few years we were an older team but we've got a few young lads in over the last few years.”
Garry Carey is one of the older players and he can impart some wisdom to the younger lads. “I just tell them to go out and give it their all, give it commitment and keep moving and do their best.”
Winning the North Mayo B title was a shot in the arm for Moygownagh earlier in the year, Garry said. “We hadn't won anything in a number of years. That gave a lot of encouragement to the younger fellas; they hadn't won anything before. So it gave them a bit of belief and I think they have improved since them, so hopefully that will help when it comes to the final itself.”
Any thoughts on Achill? “They'll be very formidable. They've been in an A final before and they would be a few divisions ahead of us. We're under no illusions. We will be the underdogs. But we'll give it a good go. We're the smallest parish in north Mayo. We're very tight on numbers. So it would be a great achievement.”
Reporting by Stuart Tynan and Brian Gillespie