Mayo man hoping to plot Ballina’s downfall

It appears that no matter when Mayo clubs – or the Mayo team itself – travel abroad for championships games you will find some connection on the opposition to the county. North London Shamrocks are a case in point.

The newly crowned – and first time – London senior champions will take on Ballina Stephenites in the quarter-finals of the AIB Connacht Club SFC in Ruislip this coming Saturday, and one of their selectors is Balla native Niall Costello, who has been living in London for 11 years. Niall and his brother, former Mayo and Sligo footballer Alan, played football for Balla growing up, with Alan even featuring for the Green and Red on their journey to the 2004 All-Ireland SFC final.

Both men would later play their club football in Sligo with Coolera/Strandhill before Niall made the trip across the Irish Sea in 2014 after graduating from IT Sligo with a degree in engineering.

“As soon as I came out with a degree it was either go to London or Australia. I came over through the North London Shamrocks.

“A lad I played football with in college, two of us got contacted by North London Shamrocks and they basically set us up to come over, got us jobs and sorted out accommodation for the first month and things like that. I've been involved in the club since then.” 

That year was a breakthrough moment for the club, with Niall Costello playing in midfield as they won the intermediate title. A full decade later, they have just made more history as North London Shamrocks not only made their first appearance in a senior final but went on to win the title at the expense of St Kiernan’s, avenging a Division 1 final defeat to the same opposition earlier in the year.

“We wouldn’t have been favoured by too many going into the season, so it was a massive achievement. Peter Witherow (manager), he put in some shifts throughout the year, so I'd say the majority of the credit goes to him.” 

Given that they were in unfamiliar territory ahead of the London county final, nobody was looking ahead to what was potentially coming down the track, which was a crack at the Mayo champions.

“To be honest, coming up to the county, it wasn’t something we were discussing and I mean that genuinely. We were just talking about the county final. Then the aftermath, there was a bit of craic and then taking a bit more of a focus of the county final in Mayo.” 

Given the historic success for Shamrocks, has it been a challenge to get the players refocused on the Connacht club championship?

“Not as bad as I genuinely thought it would be,” says Costello. “They’re just a great bunch of lads to be honest with you. They're in their mid to late 20s, a couple into their 30s, and they're all actually sensible. They were keen to get back into it, back training Tuesday night, and were of the opinion to go into this with no fear and thinking the Mayo champions are coming, we need to bow down to them. We’ll obviously give them the respect they deserve but we’ll give them whatever challenge we can.” 

Niall himself would be familiar with a certain contingent of Ballina Stephenites players. He played in the same age group as Ger Cafferkey at underage level. He also went to college with Evan Regan in Sligo while he described goalkeeper David Clarke as a ‘stalwart’. While Costello admits North London Shamrocks will be underdogs, the players are ready for the challenge.

“The quality of that team is undeniable. From our perspective, it’s bonus territory. That’s how we’re looking at it. There’s no major embarrassment if you lose to the Mayo county champions, but I think we have players that can give them trouble. They'll be looking at some things and thinking, ‘you know, we'll give them things to think about’. I know I haven't seen the bookies odds on it yet but I know we'll be underdogs. That’s not a bad position to be in and a lot of lads will be up for the challenge.”