Focused Ford unafraid to embrace the hype

Manager Peter Ford and Ballinrobe are keen for the club to return to the senior ranks of Mayo club championship football. They burst out of the traps in this year’s championship, netting six goals against Burrishoole, and have built on that initial momentum since. Ford said he is not perturbed that his team has been heavily in the spotlight for the exciting brand of football they’ve produced this year.

“I like it. Every game we go out to play, we try and play as good a football as we can. The people are enjoying watching it, it’s great.

“But we have good players and they’ve trained well. They’re a time waiting to get to a final so there’s big ambition there and they’ve been very committed. They’ve enjoyed it, I’ve enjoyed it, the town are enjoying it so everybody’s looking forward to the final.”

Since Peter Ford came in last year, he said it has been a gradual process developing his team but added that a lot of the building blocks were already in place.

“In the first year, there is always a kind of getting used to each other and getting used to different things. That probably took a bit of time and I had to get to know the players better and see what they were capable of doing.

“This year, since the championship has started, things have started to come together nicely. We have a good squad and we’re enjoying what we’re doing and have a nice blend and mixture of different ways of playing,” he said.

“It all happened gradually, there’s no major decisive overhaul. Balla beat us in a county semi-final a few years ago and went on to win the final. A lot of the same players are still there so it’s not as if they’ve come from nowhere. They were knocking on the door a few years ago.”

He said his players are keen for success given it’s the club’s first return to the final of the Sweeney Cup since 2002. In those days, Ford was running the show at Sligo and brought them to the Connacht final that year. A lot of his current players were either lining out for the Robe Rockets, crawling around in nappies or not even born yet, such is the age profile of this Ballinrobe squad.

It is not a squad totally devoid of a veteran edge but they have come to be known as a youthful side.

“I know everyone says we’re a young team but there is a fair bit of experience in there as well. The young players that we’ve had at our disposal, a lot of them are very good players. It doesn’t matter what age you are, if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”

It isn’t just ability that Ford looks for, it is the right attitude as well.

“Diarmuid Duffy is a great lad and is Leaving Cert age. We have three or four Leaving Certs in the starting team and they’re all good students and good footballers.

“I’d say whatever they do in their lives, they’re going to do very well because they’re very determined, very committed, very well-rounded people with great personalities. Humble people as well, always trying to learn.”

He is wary of the task that lies ahead. Kilmeena lost to Ballinrobe in the Michael Walsh final but Ford admits that it is hard to read into that game, given the opposition were missing a number of key players. Kilmeena, meanwhile, felled Ballinrobe on their way to last year’s intermediate final.

“We weren’t happy with how we played in that quarter-final. A lot more of their players played well individually than ours, so we have a bit of ground to make up there.

“They’ve gained a few players this year as well, but so have we. It is hard to see there being much weakness to be honest, all teams are going to go in with confidence. Kilmeena are a confident group.

“At our best, we’d be often hard to beat. I think it’s going to be a great game, I’m just hoping the weather is good and we get good conditions.”

Peter Ford admits he hasn’t thought too much about the possibility of extra-time. Kilmeena are fast becoming an old hand at this situation, having won the All-Ireland junior final and their semi-final against Moy Davitts after extra-time.

“Hopefully the game will finish before extra-time. You think about the sixty minutes and you try to get what you have to do, done. If it goes to extra-time, you just must do it again. That’s it.”

If Ford and Ballinrobe manage to get the job done, he insists they would go up to senior football to be competitive and said he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“There is a gulf between the top senior teams and whoever wins intermediate. You look at the last few winners, Ballyhaunis, Balla, Mayo Gaels, The Neale, they all have struggled. There is a top five or six of senior teams who are well ahead of the intermediate level as of now.

“Expecting to go up and win senior would be wishful thinking but maintaining your status isn’t so enjoyable either. People say we’re senior and that’s all good but unless you have a chance to win it, there’s no point staying senior. It isn’t a great goal, you have to win.

“You’re not going to get the commitment that is needed if you don’t believe at the start of the year that you are capable of winning. So, you set your goals and people have got to believe if they do the right things on a consistent basis, they’re going to win things. Otherwise, why bother?”