Candystripes celebrate a sweet, sweet breakthrough

Winning trophies is not something that happens every year. For Ballyglass, it had been a ten-year wait since their Tuohy Cup win in 2013, as well as a first Milebush final appearance since the 2016 Super Cup Final.

So this is a win they will savour as they put a disappointing Premier League behind them to win the Calor Gas Premier Cup.

“It's a great feeling,” said Ballyglass captain Aaron Moran. “The first time in years that we won something so we’ll definitely make the most of it. It’s good to have it with some lads who haven’t won anything.

“We felt ourselves that we weren't really underdogs. We knew the quality that's in that dressing room and quality that's in the players and we went out and showed that really.

“We had a clean sheet in every game in this competition so it’s great a feeling.” 

Moran added: “It’ll definitely help us, especially in maybe bringing some players back or enticing young lads to make that jump from underage to senior level which would be a big boost for us. As Darren (Murray) said, we've been struggling in some games and I know it'll be a great thing ahead of the (new) season. We’ll definitely look for promotion.” 

The tag of underdogs may have appeared surprising on paper given that Iorras Aontaithe operate two divisions below them but a blistering League Two title and McDonnell Cup win, which saw the Belmullet outfit win every game along the way, gave evidence that they would beat an inconsistent Ballyglass. They had already recorded wins over Premier League sides Ballinrobe Town and Kilmore, and League One champions Castlebar Celtic ‘B’ on their way to the final.

But Ballyglass showed their class from start to finish, Josh Mahon producing a player of the match performance with a solid display at centre-half as well as scoring the opening goal of the final.

“It’s not something I normally do! The chance was there and I just went for it and luckily it paid off. Everything fell into place today. It drove me on big time that everyone was not backing us. When you’re being written off so heavily, I wanted to win so bad and same with the other lads as well. It drives you on massively. I’m just happy to get over the line finally,” said Mahon.

Only two men who played that 2013 Tuohy Cup triumph, Darren Murray and PJ Gibbons, were involved in last weekend’s victory. Just like ten years ago, it’s one Murray will enjoy.

“It’s good to win something as a group. It feels like a long time ago since we won anything or even played in Milebush in a final. We celebrated that one well and we’ll celebrate this one also!

“There were many games this season where we didn’t have [players] with Gaelic on. We were down in Killala in the first game in this competition and we scraped eleven players, got a 1-0 win.

“It was an up and down season. When we had them, great. When we didn’t, the rest of us had to dig in.

“We started well but fell off in the league so the league campaign was disappointing. But for where we are, we’re delighted to get over the line and win the cup.

“When you get a tough win away from home (against Killala) on a wet, windy day down there, it was a slog but yeah, it set us in good stead. We built on that in this cup competition and it was our main aim to go out today and get the job done.”