Confident Ballina gunning for back to back promotions

GAA: FBD Insurance County Intermediate Football Championship Final Preview

By Thomas Conway

BALLINA v MULLINAHONE

FBD Semple Stadium

Sunday 16th October

Throw-in @ 1.00pm

Referee: Sean Everard

If indeed Ballina do prevail and land a second consecutive county football title this Sunday in Semple Stadium, it will cap a remarkable rise for the Shannonside club.

Immediately, the focus will shift. All of a sudden Ballina will be a senior football club and the question on the lips of GAA folk across the county will be whether this group of players has what it takes to achieve the ultimate, the unthinkable.

Forget junior, forget intermediate, is this team destined for senior success, destined to scale their way right to the summit of Gaelic football in Tipperary, and perhaps even beyond? But those questions will only emerge should Ballina overcome Mullinahone next Sunday afternoon, and that, in itself, would be a significant triumph.

Cast your mind back to mid-August, when the southerners completely outplayed their northern opponents on an almost equatorial Saturday evening in Templetuohy. It wasn’t the heat which got to Ballina that day. It was the sheer cohesion and general brilliance of the Mullinahone attack.

Mullinahone brushed Ballina aside almost nonchalantly, and they did so in style. Kevin Walzer, their go-to sharp-shooter in the full-forward line, registered 2-2. Tipp senior Mikey O’Shea, who starts at wing-forward but frequently drifts around the final third as he so pleases, also kicked three points. But it wasn’t just Mullinahone’s six forwards who inflicted damage that day.

Another Tipp panellist Martin Kehoe effectively took command of the centre, orchestrating the attack from midfield and enjoying more possession than perhaps any other player on the pitch that day. Behind him, Seán Curran was a rock of stability. He sauntered up the field to kick a point from play on one occasion, but for the vast majority of the game he showed remarkable discipline to hold the centre and marshal his fellow players.

Based on that one fixture alone, Mullinahone are a better team than Ballina. But who’s to say that the North club haven’t improved considerably in the period since. They overcame Galtee Rovers with relatively little fuss in the quarter final.

Then came the most impressive semi-final win over a fancied Grangemockler/Ballyneale, rattling their opponents with an early salvo of scores and then slipping into a more conservative mode for much of the second-half. Steven O’Brien kicked 1-5 in that semi-final. The industrious midfielder is, quite evidently, Ballina’s main asset, plus he was missing in the August encounter which gives Ballina an ace to spring from the pack.

Mullinahone will either devote all available resources to subdue his influence, or they may adopt a more liberal approach to the Ballina man, and focus instead on nullifying other threats, such as corner-forward Eoghan Power, or Michael Breen, who has much more as a footballer than mere physical presence.

Mullinahone will enter this county-final as favourites following knockout stages wins over Loughmore/Castleiney and perennial challengers Golden-Kilfeacle.

They play a flowing brand of football which relies on fast-paced counter-attacking and quick off-the-shoulder movement. Ballina are slightly less fluid, and far more structured. Their manager, Kevin Byrne, is an astute man. He has enough football intellect to know that his team may have to adapt their system in order to combat Mullinahone’s running game.

Ballina’s inability to retain possession ultimately crippled them in their previous meeting with Mullinahone back in August. That issue will almost certainly have been addressed in the intervening period. If Ballina can get on the ball, and exploit the gaps which will inevitably appear down the right and left channels (bear in mind the Mullinahone wing-backs like to get forward), then opportunities are likely to arise.

Ultimately, this county-final will be a tactical battle. Not quite Jurgen Klopp versus Pep Guardiola, but something along those lines in a Gaelic football context. It may very well go down to the wire, and perhaps beyond. Mullinahone have a definite psychological edge, but the Ballina footballers are currently riding a rollercoaster. The adrenaline of the ride might just get them through. Verdict: Ballina