What’s rare is beautiful for junior contenders
Mayo LGFA held a ‘Captains’ Call’ at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park last Sunday evening. From left, Parke-Keelogues-Crimlin vice-captain Megan Davitt, captain Emma Walsh, Swinford-Killasser vice-captain Anna Tierney and captain Niamh Casey.
For the finalists at senior and intermediate level, county championships finals have been a familiar feeling over the past five years. But for both Parke-Keelogues-Crimlin and Swinford-Killasser, occasions like this are rarer and something to savour.
That’s not just to do with the finals being in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park either. Swinford-Killasser, junior champions in 2005, are appearing in a first championship final since 2014 while the Parke ladies are into their first ever junior ‘A’ final.
Both teams have also had a similar journey in the championship this year. Two wins and a draw in the group stages saw them into the semi-finals, although the manner of their victories was different as Parke-Keelogues-Crimlin narrowly beat West Mayo rivals Balla while Swinford comprehensively defeated last year’s junior ‘A’ finalists St Brigid’s.
Swinford manager Justin McDonagh is pleased with how things have gone so far this year.
“We're very happy. The league, we've maintained to stay in Division Two and we're happy with that.
“At the beginning of the year, we would have set out that we'd come out of our group and we've done that now, got through a semi-final and into a final so that's where we want to be.
“When they found out that they were definitely playing in MacHale Park, the girls were very excited about that. Getting out and playing, it's a huge occasion for them.”
On their opponents, McDonagh is expecting a tight affair. “They're very similar to ourselves. Won two, drew one, the same as we did the other side and they had a good semi-final too to get into the final, no more than ourselves, so I think it'll be a good game.”
His counterpart Harry Flynn has watched the growth of the ladies game first hand in his own club. It was one of the big reasons a new pitch was developed, which had its official opening just last weekend, and the rise of their underage along with it means this likely won’t be the last county final, with the girls’ under-16 side winning a county title at the weekend.
“The club is going from strength to strength. The ladies there, all the underage, our under 16 girls had a great win again [on Sunday] in a Division 2 final against our neighbours, Breaffy. With all the underage, the pitches are needed down there and the work that's been put down there is tremendous.”
On the win against Balla, Flynn said: “Semi-finals are hard wins. Sometimes they're harder wins than a final. We stuck at it, kept to what we know and we got over the line. That's the main thing.” Like Justin McDonagh, Harry Flynn is expecting a close contest.
“They had a very impressive win in the semi-final themselves. They've been going well on their side of it. They've had a few good wins.
“We played them early in the year and they beat us well in Parke so we'll have our work cut out now to knuckle down and try and beat them.”
