Lahardane looking to repeat history in today's Connaught final
By Matthew Reilly
THE parish of Addergoole has had a massive buzz about it these past few weeks courtesy of the Lahardane junior football team, who face Owenmore Gaels of Sligo in the Connaught final at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar, at 1.30 p.m. today.
In a massive coincidence, in 2017 Lahardane beat a south Mayo team in Kilmaine in the county decider, a Galway team in the Connaught semi-finals and a Sligo team in the final - the same path they have taken this year. Lahardane went on to win Connaught that year, so will history repeat itself or will Owenmore write their own history?
The men from the foot of Neiphin have had the perfect return to junior football, going straight back up to intermediate at the first time of asking.
A new backroom team came in at the start of the year with Eddie Conroy as manager and helping him are Enda Langan and Brian Mannion, and it's clear they have had a huge impact on the team.
The team has quite a lot of young players but even with all these players, one of the liveliest is veteran corner-back Barry Leonard who once again put in a massive shift in both the semi-final and county final, setting up Mark Noone's second goal with a pinpoint 'pass' - we will never know if he meant it.
Everyone in the club is hoping to have a repeat of the Connaught final in 2017 against Ballymote of Sligo where Lahardane ran out four-point winners in MacHale Park. They went on to the All-Ireland semi-final but were eventually knocked out by Multyfarnham on a scoreline of 2-9 to 1-14 in Dr. Hyde Park. Although much of the team has changed with some retiring and others emigrating abroad, there are still some players who remain.
This current team is inspiring the future generations of Lahardane and I am sure the children will remember these matches for a long time to come, just as what happened in 2017. Especially the heart and determination needed to come back from five points down at half-time will definitely inspire many people.
The support for Lahardane has been phenomenal and in the semi-final against Menlough you could really see the boost that the crowd gave to them whenever they scored or won a free or dispossessed the ball - there was a massive roar and it lifted the team, so just imagine what the final will be like.
The ball throws in at 1.30 p.m. today and for most players it's the most important game they will have played in their lives. Just like in 2017, the final is being played in MacHale Park and Lahardane can hope for the same outcome.
Both sides will need to be careful not to give away any free-kicks as both teams have a deadly free taker, James Maughan for Lahardane and Aaron Mullen for Owenmore Gaels, who scored six and eight points respectively. The defenders will still need to keep a close eye on the forwards in both teams as they are deadly with time and space afforded.
One thing is for sure, this is going to be a cracking game with two evenly matched sides and one for the neutrals definitely.
* Matthew Reilly is a transition year student in St. Tiernan's College, Crossmolina, and a member of the Lahardane MacHales Under 15 and Under 16 teams.