The pure magic of the Masters Cup
A minute's silence was held for former FAI President Pat Quigley at last Saturday's International Friendly at the Aviva Stadium. It was the Republic of Ireland's first game since the Castlebar man's passing on New Year's Eve last. They played out a scoreless draw with Belgium in what was interim boss John O'Shea's first game in charge. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie
What do you get if, on a Wednesday or Thursday evening, you sprinkle in a dash of age, containing the by-products of wisdom (apparently) and maturity (possibly), mixed with a good shot of Deep Heat muscle rub and then soak it all in the essence of football, overnight or longer?
You get the Masters Football League. Moreover, if you throw in a spoonful of the magic of the cup, you get what we got last Wednesday and that is a truly memorable night of action in the Oliver Kelleher Masters Cup.
There was not one, but two giant-killings in the competition, relatively speaking. You can argue over the true quality of Division Three kingpins Bangor Hibs and Partry Athletic given how easily they achieved promotion from the bottom tier of the Masters League this year.
Maybe these aren’t quite giant-killings in the traditional sense. David versus Goliath usually takes place on a bobbly pitch in bad weather, a lower league side against a team from the upper divisions. A home crowd keen to turn their little house into Hell on Earth for the away side. The astro at Umbro Park is in good nick and the weather was alright for a change last Wednesday. We even began the evening’s action in daylight, a rare treat at the Masters.
A quick Google search will tell you that the ‘original’ FA Cup giant-killing took place in 1972 when fifth-tier Hereford (the club, not the cattle breed) beat First Division Newcastle United. More modern fixtures have seen Newport (from England, not West Mayo) knock out then holders Leicester City in 2019 in the third round. We all love to see it and such results usually stick out like a sore thumb among the likes of Man City and Chelsea usually giving some poor League One side a thumping.
Maybe the Masters’ two latest Cup advancers are not so little themselves. Bangor are back playing Masters for the first time in many years and are probably better than the third tier. Partry have had the benefit of a League of Ireland quality player in their ranks this year, Sligo Rovers manager John Russell, but then again, he wasn’t present on Wednesday night and the quality of the rest of the squad really shone through.
The two teams are so good in fact, they literally cannot separate them and a playoff to determine the destination of the Division Three trophy is to be held when both teams are eliminated from the Cup.
Bangor and Partry came up against Division One heavyweights Ballina Town and Division Two champions Conn Rangers respectively in the Cup last week and one Bangor Hibs player put it pretty bluntly to me when he said that he expected that playoff to go ahead next week when both teams were put firmly out of the cup by their superior opposition. That is not quite the case.
The 5-4 scoreline suggests a tighter game than it was at one point, when Bangor Hibs raced out into a 4-1 lead. Anthony Coyle and Mikie Sweeney both scored braces while Ballina struggled to get the better of Kyle Holmes and his crossbar. Paul Moran, a man who has proven he can score from anywhere on the pitch for Ballina this year, smashed in two brilliant goals to cut the gap but then the Moment came.
The Moment in cup giant-killings is that Moment you know that a team is simply going to go on and win, despite the odds against them. Hereford had Ronnie Radford’s rocket from 35 yards that sent their over-capacity crowd into absolute raptures. Pure Roy of the Rovers stuff. There is a very good quality clip of this on YouTube, check it out. Newport County had Padraig Amond’s late penalty. There is always a Moment where you say, yes, this is it. This is happening.
For Bangor Hibs, their moment came when Thomas Murphy lined up a corner, sent in an inswinger with his right boot and it flew over the head of Ballina goalkeeper Kieran O’Malley and nestled in the net.
Paul Moran walloped in another direct free-kick but Bangor Hibs held out for a famous, famous win. Meanwhile Partry, sans John Russell, had their Moment late on when Mark Gibbons smashed home the winner to see them safely through against Conn Rangers.
Bangor will now face Killala and Partry will take on Iorras Aontaithe and why wouldn’t both teams fancy themselves? Bangor will enjoy a crack at Killala, who finished in fourth place in Division Two but it is a tougher ask for Partry against Iorras, who are a Thanos-sized threat for any team they come up against.
In the next round, Kiltimagh/Knock United face Westport United and Ballyglass play Fahy Rovers in what seem like straightforward wins for both Westport and Ballyglass respectively but who knows? The gravity of Ballina’s elimination is that they were the outright favourites, Division One champions but for a points deduction and clearly with a score to settle given that situation. But they are gone now and a pathway has opened up for any of the remaining teams to go on and win the competition.
There will be plenty more twists and turns in this competition before it is all said and done and maybe, just maybe, that final could turn into a winner-takes-all decider for the Division Three playoff and Masters Cup.
I was delighted to hear the news that the Mayo Women’s League is to enter the Angela Hearst Cup competition for the first time. While the Women’s League has previously entered senior competitions, it is their first foray into this particular competition, which is a national tournament for senior women’s leagues.
Women’s soccer has been on the upswing in this county for the last number of years and the level of work going on behind the scenes, as with any sporting administration gig, is just incredible and entry now to a national level competition is a just reward for those who care about the game locally and strive to keep it growing continuously. Massive credit is due to everyone who puts that effort in and if I had to, gun to my head, pick out one name I would say Joe King. The Women’s League secretary puts in the hard yards and has consistently done so over the last few years.
He said of this initiative; “This venture is something that the league has talked about in the past, but we have now taken an important first step to bring it to fruition.
“Looking at the quality of players playing in this league also fills me with pride and it’s only fair and proper that they get a chance to represent Mayo.”
A panel of players is currently being put together and will be revealed in due course but the management team has been named.
Ollie King will be manager, after successfully guiding Manulla to a domestic treble last year, a Connacht Cup final and a Mayo Sports Star Award to boot. Michael Devaney from Swinford will be assistant manager, another tireless worker when it comes to coaching. Marie Bones (nee Gallagher) will be coach and comes with a wealth of experience having played LOI football with DLR Waves and having been capped by the Republic of Ireland.
Brian Farrell from Ballinrobe Town will be kitman and Regina McIntyre (formerly of Ballina Town is physio). Michael Collins from Kiltimagh/Knock United will be acting as the league’s coordinator.
Entry to this national competition is a massive credit to all involved, from players, officials, administrators, supporters and clubs around the county.
