Frozen in time – Cool Blues win Bekan blizzard battle

When they are old and grey, the Balla Secondary School team of 2026 will remember the evening they won the Connacht Colleges senior ‘C’ football final.

And the Gortnor Abbey lads, led by joint-captains Kobe McDonald and Dylan Flynn, will hope they have forgotten it long before then.

It was no ordinary victory on no ordinary night.

Farmers who put their dogs out in weather like we experienced in Bekan on Saturday night might be reported but the brave young men of Balla and Gortnor Abbey in Crossmolina toughed it out in what can be rightly described as arctic-like conditions.

It started off cold, wet and windy but as bad as that was, as the snow fell midway through the first-half, the conditions worsened. It was just about playable in the second-half in the sense there was no immediate danger to the players but it made for incredibly difficult playing conditions.

The execution of the simplest of skills such as catching uncontested, soloing and kicking became fraught with peril as the sensation slowly ebbed away from fingers and toes.

And that was just those of us gathered on the sideline!

Balla led 0-9 to 0-5 at half-time having played with the aid of the wind. They mined two two-pointers in the opening half, from Ryan O’Donnell and Mark Jennings, but with Kobe McDonald having kicked an impressive two-pointer free into the wind in the first-half, you figured they would make hay in the second.

But the weather was not their friend and Balla could have declared on nine.

A wet, cold and heavy ball made long-range shooting unfeasible and carrying the ball was difficult on a night that became more and more one for defenders who could strip ball away from the grasp of players struggling to hold it in the conditions.

Gortnor Abbey’s decision-making in trying to work goal chances in the third quarter, when getting the scoreboard moving would have been better advised, played into Balla’s hands but you could not be critical of anyone who braved those elements.

And it might be more fitting to look towards a Balla team who were incredibly resilient in holding Gortnor Abbey off time and time again.

Seán Brohan gave an inspirational captain’s display at full-back, Ryan O’Donnell was at the heart of so many turnovers at six while Keith Malone and Adam Jennings were superb too in defence.

Midfielders Dara Patten and Mark Jennings were tremendous while big Ethan Duffy at full-forward came up with plenty of big moments.

Patten was handed the onerous role of limiting Kobe McDonald and did a sterling job but Balla will know the weather played a helping hand too.

Liam Glynn, whose father Fran and uncle Joe were on the Balla team that won a Connacht senior ‘B’ title in 1989, miraculously kicked a two-pointer free into the wind and snow with the last kick of the game.

It summed up Balla’s night – defying the odds from pillar to post.