Heffernan hoping Ballina are second time lucky

Twelve months can be a long time in football but little has changed for Ballina Stephenites. They were 60 minutes away from a Moclair Cup then and that remains the case now, as Breaffy stand in their way of a record-breaking 37th Mayo senior championship and a first since 2007.

“It is a long time and it shows you how good the standard of football that so many clubs have been able to stop Ballina winning the title,” suggested Ballina Stephenites manager Niall Heffernan this week.

“There’s a lot of really strong clubs in this county and it’s a really, really hard championship to win and Ballina have been successful down through the years, but you always have up and down periods and the club has put in a huge amount of work in the last few years at underage and at senior level to try and get to the summit.

“We failed last year. Hopefully this year we’ll get across the line but we’re not really concerned about the history or concerned about the gaps. All we’re focusing on is what we can control which is our performance,” insisted Heffernan.

Based in Claremorris for many years but a proud and esteemed former Ballina Stephenites player, Niall Heffernan has been pleased with how his side has improved over the course of the championship, since their opening round win over Breaffy — who are also their final opponents — to their semi-final battle with neighbours Knockmore. It wasn’t pretty football by any means in Crossmolina last Sunday week, but the manager was delighted to see his players come through a game ‘full of tension’.

“It’s been a long year since we were in the county final last year and we’re hoping that we perform well. If we perform well we’ve a great chance,” Heffernan said.

“You have to take each hurdle as it comes to you and each game offers different challenges and I think we rose to most of them pretty well. We wouldn’t be happy with our performance at lots of different games but I think we are improving. The game against Knockmore was full of tension, you know, local derby against a really good team, double champions only the year before last.

“I suppose we didn’t really get going as well as we’d have liked in that game, but that’s also down to the way Knockmore play and how good they are and how competitive they are. So we’re hoping that we can improve again for the final because we know against this Breaffy team we’re going to have to improve.”

That win over Knockmore may have come at a price. Mikey Murray was already an absentee for that game and now Dylan Thornton is an injury doubt as well. However, while Jack Irwin received a straight red card for a flare-up between the two teams in second-half stoppage time, the Western People has learned that Ballina have successfully appealed his dismissal and that Irwin will be available to play on Sunday.

“We feel it was harsh. No disrespect to the referee, Jerome (Henry) is a very good referee and a really nice person. But we feel that it was a harsh decision on the day and we’re hoping that we get a good hearing on it,” said Heffernan in advance of the appeal.

“We’d be hopeful (for Dylan and Mikey), but it’s a case-by-case basis and day-by-day. They have the injuries, they’re on rehab, and we’ll just see how they get along this week. It’s too early to say it because injuries like they have, they could break down again.”

Their final opponents were not expected to get this far but Heffernan is not surprised about the progress of Breaffy. Having encountered them in the group stage, Ballina got first-hand experience of what the West Mayo outfit are capable of. Much has been made about the performances of Aidan O’Shea in this championship but Niall Heffernan believes they are not a one-man team.

“They’re a really strong team. A lot of people focus on Aidan and he’s been brilliant, he’s a fantastic player. And so is Mattie (Ruane) and Michael Hall. They’re three great players and Conor (O’Shea), but they’re much, much more than that this year.

“What’s really impressed me about Breaffy, both in the day we played them and in the other games, is how much of a team they are and I think that’s credit to the club and to the management of what they’ve done. I think they’re really all kind of pulling in the one direction, more so maybe than would have been perceived other years. So I think they’re a huge threat right across the park.”

It will take a special performance for the Stephenites to overcome them but Niall Heffernan is hoping his side can bring ‘smiles’ to the many supporters who have had to wait a long time for the Moclair Cup to reside once more in James Stephens Park.

“Well, I’d be delighted for the club, I’d be delighted for the players, obviously it’d give me a lot of satisfaction as well. We’ve put a lot of work into it, no more than Konrad (Coghill) and his background team have in Breaffy. So, you know, it would be lovely to win it. And I’d love to see the smiles on the faces of the people who have been waiting for it to come for so many years back to Ballina. But that’s sport, you know, there’s going to be a winner, there’s going to be a loser on the day. Hopefully, from our point of view, we’re the winners, but if not, we’ll be the first ones to congratulate Breaffy.”