The big prize for intermediate winners is senior football next year
Aiden Henry
Apart from the Sweeney Cup that will be presented to the winning captain after tomorrow's Egan Jewellers Mayo IFC final, the big prize for the winners between Ballyhaunis and Kilmeena will be senior football in 2023.
For Kilmeena, it would mark a meteoric rise from junior to senior in just two years, while Ballyhaunis have been knocking on the senior door for a few years now – they will be contesting their third intermediate decider in four years tomorrow afternoon (Saturday) in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar (throw-in 3 p.m.).
Kilmeena manager John Reilly, who is expecting a cracking game against Ballyhaunis, said their aim is to play senior club championship football in Mayo.
He elaborated: “There is no doubt that winning the All-Ireland junior title was a massive achievement. But after that it was a case of moving on to the next step. At the start of the championship our aim was to win the first game against Kilmaine, and we did that. The next aim was to get out of the group, we did that, beat Ballinrobe, did that, beat Moy Davitts, did that, and out next step is to play senior football, and to do that we have to beat Ballyhaunis. If we can do that it will be a much greater achievement than winning the All-Ireland.”
When asked if he was surprised that Kilmeena had reached the intermediate decider, he said he wasn't. “I know we lost five or six lads since the All-Ireland but what you see now is that the younger players have come in and stepped up to the mark. To put it mildly, they have been a revelation.
“On top of that, we have a number of young guys coming in from the minor team this year and they too have also added to the strength of our panel. We are in the good times here in Kilmeena at the moment, and you have to know when you are in the good times you must make hay from it!
“We have a development structure and this has gone extremely well all year. The younger players have got numerous games and their football and skills have developed brilliantly. I think we played a total of 24 development games of football this year.
“Overall, we have a great squad and all these young lads are getting better and better. Any of them playing in the final, it certainly won't faze them in any shape or form.”
On Saturday's opponents, Reilly said: “Look, Ballyhaunis are a very good team. This will be their third final in four years. They will argue that they should have beaten Mayo Gaels last year. You see how Mayo Gaels did in the senior championship and it will tell you what a good Ballyhaunis side this is. They are just a quality team, and we won’t under estimate them by any means. We will go into the contest on Saturday and give it the best shot we can.”
In terms of injuries, Kilmeena have Sean Ryder and Conor Madden returning but will be without Niall Ryan, Niall Feehan and Chris McGlynn (long-term injury) for the decider on Saturday.
Like the manager, Sean Ryder is expecting the game to be close throughout. “Ballyhaunis are a very good footballing side and will go into the final with a lot of experience behind them.
“For us, the past football year has been brilliant. It was a short year with nearly two championships rolling into one. Winning the All-Ireland junior title was unbelievable. It did wonders for the club. After the All-Ireland we got time to enjoy it but then moved on as you can’t live on the past. We set a date and new goals.
“We were drawn in a very tough group in the intermediate championship. But we knew that if we got out of that group we had as good a chance as any team of going all the way. The close games in the group stages really stood to us. Now we are in the final and really looking forward.
“The new young influx of players has brought us up a notch and you can see that in our games. We all just love going down to training and going to the matches and now the joy of getting to the intermediate final is a fantastic reward for all our efforts. It has been a brilliant year so far. We are a relatively young team, and we know where we want to be.”
Sean came on in the semi-final against Bohola Moy Davitts and is hoping the two extra weeks of work will have improved his fitness levels.
Looking forward to the game, Ryder said there are many similarities between Kilmeena and Ballyhaunis in the way they want to playing football.
He concluded: “We have met a good few times over the past few years and know each other well and have had close battles, all by both playing good football. It will be toe-to-toe and hopefully we can come out on top.”
TASK
Ballyhaunis manager Paul Jordan is under no illusion regarding the task his side faces against Kilmeena on Saturday.
He said: “We are facing an extremely good Kilmeena team. You only have to look at what they have achieved over the past year or so. We saw how they cut through all opposition at junior level before going on to win the treble – Mayo, Connacht and All-Ireland finals. It was just an awesome achievement by Kilmeena. They now have continued this winning mentality into the intermediate grade and it is no surprise they are our opponents in the final.”
Jordan and his Ballyhaunis team were very disappointed at losing last year's decider as well as the 2019 final, but he said they have long since moved on from that.
“It is history and you have to move on. That is what we have done this year. Once the club championsip draws were made for 2022, we sat down and looked to see what went wrong and where we could improve. We spoke with the players to see what they felt and where they could improve. From then onwards it was back to the training ground.
“In the league we used a lot of players from June on. We had a fair number of injuries, and some players were gone to America for the summer. This gave us the opportunity to try a lot more players out and as a result we have a very strong panel.
“We did well enough in the league. But the championship was our main focus. After a shaky start - we're kinda used to that now – we took it game by game. Topping our group was great and we just seemed to improve from there. We had good wins over Parke and Hollymount/Carramore to advance the final. Now it is Kilmeena who stand between us and winning the county title. But what a challenge this is going to be; you just have to look at what Kilmeena did over the past year.
“However, all we are doing is concentrating on our own game and hopefully we can produce a performance that is good enough to beat Kilmeena.”
Ballyhaunis have a couple of injury concerns, with Eoghan Collins doubtful and Danny Murray definitely out.
Jordan concluded: “Overall, I expect the final to be a good game of football. They like to play open, good football, like ourselves. But it will be close. They never give up, as they showed in Croke Park. They are extremely well managed. They are just very good all round team.
“Obviously, you need to be at the top of your game for a final. Its an added pressure, but this is where everyone wants to be. We will just continue what we are doing and not change anything. But we will have to find a little bit more to get over the line. Hopefully we can.”
Ballyhaunis player Johnny Cunnane said they were hoping for better luck in this year's intermediate championship final than they had in both the 2021 and 2019 deciders.
He said: “It was tough losing to Mayo Gaels last year. That came after losing to The Neale in 2019. Now we don’t want to lose three county finals. Let’s hope we have better luck next Saturday.”
Like his manager, Cunnane agreed that Saturday’s opponents, Kilmeena, deserve huge credit for their achievements over the past year. “Any player would have admired what Kilmeena pulled off over the past 12 months. Going on to win the All-Ireland title, beating a very good Kerry side in the final, was a remarkable achievement. They have brought that form into the intermediate championship and have fully deserved their place in the final.
“They will prove very tough opponents for us. It will be by far out biggest test in the championship, and we will have to be on our game if we are to come out on top. We won’t be taking anything for granted against them. I expect it will be a very close game and go right down to the wire.”
INTERESTING
It promises to be one of the most interesting intermediate championship finals in recent times, with Kilmeena anxious to make it back-to-back Mayo club titles and Ballyhaunis hoping to make amends for last year's defeat.
This intrigue allied to the fact that both Ballyhaunis and Kilmeena are two very good footballing sides should attract a huge crowd to tomorrow's game.
It's not easy to predict who will come out on top, however. Given their great exploits throughout the last 12 months, up to and including the annexation of the All-Ireland junior club title, few will be ruling Kilmeena out, and we can be 100% sure that Ballyhaunis will not be taking them for granted.
On the other hand, if you were to pick one team out of the 16 that went to battle in the intermediate championship this year that knows how hard it is to win the title, it would be Ballyhaunis. The problem they have had is not getting to the final, but winning it. The great experience the team has gained in reaching recent deciders may stand to them and get them over the finishing line.
These are two exceptional sides contesting this year's final but I am going to give Ballyhaunis the nod to finally get over the line.
While both teams have plenty experience of playing in finals, I think Ballyhaunis will not be taking anything for granted and will know going into this decider that a full 60 minutes (and more) of non-stop graft will be required of them in order to come out on top.
Verdict: Ballyhaunis