Fortune favours Crossmolina in richly deserved victory

The former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp once observed that football was ‘the most important of the least important things’. Klopp’s comment sprang to mind as we watched Conor Loftus bolting for the Croke Park tunnel having just kicked the winning penalty for his club in the All-Ireland Intermediate Football Final on Sunday.

What should have been a joyous occasion for the Crossmolina man – a time to celebrate with teammates and supporters – was instead set against the backdrop of the terrible tragedy of losing his fiancée just a few weeks ago. Rarely, if ever, has there been a more poignant denouement to an All-Ireland Final, and one can only marvel at Conor Loftus’ courage and composure in stepping forward to take such a crucial and high-pressure kick.

He is a player who has come in for his share of unfair criticism in a Mayo jersey in recent years, but in the annals of Gaelic football in this county, it would be hard to find a more impressive or inspiring cameo than that last-minute penalty. It certainly left a lasting impression on anyone who was either in Croke Park or watching the final on television, and the pity is that it didn’t have a wider audience in Mayo due to the power outages caused by Storm Éowyn.

Crossmolina just about deserved their victory on the balance of play but the penalty was a travesty. If anything, it should have been a free out to Ballinderry for barging, and the decision was the culmination of a poor refereeing display that saw Crossmolina penalised for several fouls that were of the soft variety. However, the Derry and Ulster champions only have themselves to blame for engaging in doomed keep-ball tactics in stoppage time, having hit the front at the end of the 60 minutes.

It was an entertaining game and the standard of football was, for the most part, commendable for an intermediate final, albeit one between two clubs that have a storied history at senior level. The half-time score, 0-6 apiece, was a fair reflection of the play and goal chances were at a premium.

Much of Crossmolina’s troubles in the first-half stemmed from their attempts at a short kick-out strategy, which seemed like a foolhardy enterprise for a team with two outstanding ball-winning midfielders in Jordan Flynn and Conor Loftus. A couple of the Ballinderry points came from Crossmolina turnovers, which was disappointing for the Mayo champions who had defended with discipline and cohesion for long periods in that opening half.

A series of Crossmolina fouls immediately after half-time set the tone for the second-half as a combination of ragged defending and poor refereeing gave Ballinderry multiple opportunities for scores. But Crossmolina still enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, and when James Maheady kicked his side’s eleventh point in the 21st minute to establish a three-point advantage, it seemed as if there was only going to be one outcome: a fairly comfortable victory for the Mayo and Connacht champions.

Ballinderry, however, staged a most unlikely comeback, hitting five points in the final ten minutes – four of them from play – to open up a two-point lead as the game went into stoppage time. They had all the momentum now and it was going to take something very unexpected to swing the pendulum back in Crossmolina’s favour. The penalty may have been unwarranted but the victory was richly deserved, and while Ballinderry will understandably feel aggrieved about that last-minute decision, they will know that they didn’t do enough over the 60-plus minutes to put this game beyond doubt.

For Crossmolina, a heartbreaking few weeks ends in an All-Ireland Final victory in Croke Park, but the haunting image of their match-winning hero disappearing into the tunnel moments after the final whistle will live long in the memory of those who witnessed it.

Klopp was right. Sport really is one of the least important things in life.

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Of course, try telling some unhinged Mayo ‘supporters’ that football is one of the least important things in life. A young, experimental Mayo team had barely broken into its stride against Dublin in Croke Park on Saturday evening when the lunatic fringe on social media were using words like ‘embarrassment’ and ‘clowns’.

Of course, those same keyboard warriors beat a hasty, cowardly retreat when the Mayo team really hit their stride and struck 1-7 without reply in a blistering second quarter, having ended the first quarter seven points in arrears, 1-6 to 0-2. It was a fabulous comeback from Mayo, with Fergal Boland to the fore along with debutant Davitt Neary and the returning Conor Reid, who scored his side’s goal.

There was so much to like about Mayo in that period and manager Kevin McStay will have been encouraged by the courageous display of his young team when faced with such a mountain to climb midway through the half. The half-time score, 1-10 to 1-8, gave Mayo a real opportunity of causing an upset and taking two valuable league points, but unfortunately the second-half performance never quite lived up to those 15 minutes of brilliance before half-time.

Dublin may have lost a lot of experienced players but they still have the likes of Ciaran Kilkenny and Sean Bugler who were crucial to their second-half revival, with Kilkenny scoring two of his side’s opening three points after half-time as the Dubs regained the lead. It was a game Mayo could have won and they may look back on it at the end of the league campaign as one that got away, especially if they get dragged into a relegation battle, as many people expect.

This year’s Division 1 campaign is the toughest in some time and there are no easy points up for grabs. McStay may be blooding some new players but they will need to learn quickly on the job because there are some very tough tests ahead, starting next Sunday in MacHale Park against Galway. That game will offer a more accurate assessment of where this young Mayo side is headed because the Tribesmen looked impressive in their victory over the All-Ireland champions Armagh. The new rules seem to suit Pádraic Joyce’s team who have plenty of options when it comes to kicking those vital two-pointers as Shane Walsh and Paul Conroy showed on Saturday.

Mayo need no motivation to beat Galway, especially after what happened in Salthill in the Connacht Final last year. Failure to defeat our neighbours will also put added pressure for the next fixture at home to Tyrone on February 16, with the Ulster men now looking like a very formidable side under new manager Malachy O’Rourke, who has a fine record at club and intercounty level. While it is too early to talk about must-win games, defeat to Galway will leave Mayo facing an uphill task as they will, realistically, need to win three of their final five games.

Of course, the perennial question each spring is whether Mayo can mount a challenge for an All-Ireland championship but the real question we need to be asking at the moment is whether we can stay in Division One. Next Sunday will provide us with a few more clues about where we are headed in 2025 but supporters need to show patience with a young team that is trying to chart its own course in a very competitive division. Last Saturday evening was far from perfect but there was lots to like about Mayo’s performance too and hopefully we will see this team build on it by beating Galway next weekend. We have four games at home so wouldn’t it be great if we could win them all and finally start to turn MacHale Park into a fortress, something previous Mayo teams have notably struggled to do. Now that would be a really good starting point for this new-look Mayo side.