NO third trophy to take back home but Ballinderry earned respect as well as showing plenty of it – and also restored pride in the club.
Shamrocks manager Jarlath Bell was understandably pleased with how his players conducted themselves on and off the pitch, before, during, and after their All-Ireland Club Intermediate Football final loss to Crossmolina.
The Mayo men won it with a penalty deep into added time converted by Conor Loftus, whose fiancée Roisin Cryan tragically lost her life earlier in the month.
That spot-kick award was probably wrong but Ballinderry accepted the decision and Bell felt that was the right reaction in the circumstances:
“A buzzword we instilled in this group from the beginning of the season was ‘respect’. We had a serious platform and opportunity to show that to the Crossmolina club over the last number of weeks there.
“I’m super proud of the guys, the way they conducted themselves on the pitch, and the club off it, and everything else. From that point of view they’re just a great bunch of lads.
“I spoke beforehand about when the GAA really comes into its own and I think they showed serious respect there again.
“Congratulations to Crossmolina, I hope they enjoy their victory. They’re like ourselves, they’ve had a few dark days with tragedies, good luck to them.”
Ballinderry were without midfield prospect Niall O’Donnell but Bell was conscious not to be complaining beforehand or afterwards:
“We probably kept that quiet deliberately. Niall had a grade 3c hamstring tear and he’s actually had surgery on it since in London…so he was a significant loss but we didn’t want that to cloud preparations and whatever else, we’re not going to make excuses.”
The attitude exhibited by Ballinderry to overturn a three-point deficit in a previously tight game and score five points in a row delighted Bell – but did not surprise him at all:
“They’ve been up and down but every single time this year when the chips were down, I could rhyme off numerous games, we continued to pull ourselves back into it and that’s exactly what we did.
“Again that highlights the commitment and character of these lads, so that’s never going to be in question. When the dust settles we’ll probably reflect on things and look towards the end and maybe see that it was maybe just a case of closing it out, but, off memory, they pressed really hard and they made it difficult for us to get out and that’s effectively what won them the game.”
Crossmolina and Ballinderry are both big names within their own county, and won the Senior All-Ireland in 2001 and 2002 respectively, but are in re-building processes.
Bell was happy that the Shamrocks have regained their senior championship status, feeling that this campaign has been about getting that back – as well as regaining that fighting spirit for which they were famed in the past:
“It’s pretty easy to sum up, to be honest - to me it’s one of progress. It’s been well enough documented over the last 12 months about slipping back down into intermediate.
“We’re a very proud club, as you know, so if it means that there’s been pride restored this year, I think that’s probably the overarching sense.
“There’s games throughout the year where we looked beaten but we never give in and we always hung on. That’s something that was synonymous with teams whenever I was growing up as well, that’s just something that maybe was missing there for a wee while in the club.
“I don’t think there’s anyone going up the road back home that could say that these lads didn’t give it their all - and as a manager that’s all you can ask of any team.”
Back at the top level, Ballinderry will now work towards reaching a first senior final since 2014, having been champions the year before.
Their youthful squad, with the team including three teenagers in Ruairi Forbes, Tiernan Rocks, and Shea McCann, holds out strong hope for future success, and Bell is cautiously optimistic:
“Well, you would hope so, but getting success at Intermediate, we’re not naïve enough to think that’s going to guarantee any success at senior level – but certainly it’s a building block.
“It’s going to inspire young people around the club, and that’s all you can ask for, to try to inspire the younger generation. We’ll see where it goes. We’ll lick our wounds, spend time with each other, re-group and then see where we’re at.”
