With the future still in mind
November 27, 2011True to form, Michael Gaynor doesn't pull any punches in reflecting on what he himself describes as a "disappointing" year for Ballinagh GFC.
It's a credit to the man that he calls it as he sees it rather than masking his own gut feeling or putting a gloss on a high-profile setback or two in 2011.
As always, Gaynor shoots from the hip but his views, most would concurr, are far from being critical and instead appear to hit the nail on the head.
His honesty makes the 2010/11 club chairman a journalist's delight. Not for him, the party line adopted by your-commoner-garden titular head.
Michael doesn't begin to seek to avoid the issue of what exactly was amiss last September when the club's flagship team hit the rocks in the SFC.
"The players and the team-management did all they could and a great effort was put in all-round; preparations were spot on and the discipline was very good but, on the day, things just didn't go our way and, there's no point in beating about the bush. It was disappointing," Michael says.
The game, of course, being referred to is the 2011 Cavan SFC semi-final clash with the perennial championship favourites, Cavan Gaels which went went the latter's way on a 2-10 to 0-7 scoreline.
It was a game and a competition many punters felt would go Ballinagh's way but history has a habit of repeating itself and shredding scripts.
The Saffrons had scared the pants of the Gaels in the 2010 blue riband fare but agonisingly fell short by a couple of points of causing an upset.
Then in early August, Ballinagh raised expectations by beating the county town side by 1-12 to 1-9 in their group match.
Michael has joined other Saffrons in thrashing out a thousand post-mortems about what went wrong in the subsequent semi-final clash between the sides. The result hasn't changed, of course. The answers remain elusive.
"It's very hard to put your finger on what went wrong in the semi-final. To be honest, nobody has come up with an answer or can explain the defeat.
"The players were definitely up for it but Cavan Gaels were ready for us, no doubt about that, and they stood up to everything we threw at them."
In fairness, there were mitigating circumstances surrounding the failure of Ballinagh to upset the apple cart and notch another victory over the Gaels.
Key players like David Finnegan and Patrick Carroll went into the SFC semi-final carrying injuries and Anthony Gaynor wasn't 100% fit.
"When you're playing the championship favourites, the underdog needs to have everyone fit and playing at their peak," Michael opines.
"It wasn't a great day for football with the wind and everything but that's no excuse because the conditions on the day were the same for both teams.
"We had the wind in the first half but didn't take full advantage of it and were only level (0-4 apiece) at half-time which meant things didn't look good.
"They (Cavan Gaels) hit four or five wides in as many minutes after the start of the second half and I thought we'd capitalise on that and push on."
An air of inevitability wafted its way over proceedings in the second half of the match and once the Gaels bagged their first goal in the 47th minute, it was a case of death by a thousand cuts for Ballinagh from there to the finish.
The defeat burst Ballinagh's bubble right and proper. Club stalwarts like Michael Gaynor are still getting over the defeat. Nobody was killed though.
Indeed Ballinagh's rating as champions-in-waiting remains. Gaels countywide maintain that it's only a matter of time before they work the oracle.
"I know what people around the county are saying," Michael avers,"and I'd agree with them when they say that Ballinagh is still a 'coming' team.
"The team is mostly made up of young fellas on the team with most of them having played for the county at some level or other.
"I'd say our goalkeeper, Darragh McCarthy, is probably the oldest; we'd have two lads aged 31 and about seven around the 26 mark and the rest around the 21 or 22 mark so that shows that there's a lot of football to be played by that group in the years ahead which is some consolation."
Ballinagh GFC is fortunate that the creme de la creme of the club's premier squad is still in tact and hasn't been radically effected by emigration.
Such a statistic helped put the meat on the bone of observers' views at the start of the year that Ballinagh were best positioned to topple the Gaels.
Football pundits in the county suggest that avoiding the twin ravages of emigration and injuries will be key to Ballinagh's prospects in 2012.
"I'd say we're number three in the county behind Cavan Gaels and Castlerahan and I'd expect us to be no lower in the rankings next year.
"We don't know what next year will hold but we'd like the management team of Ciaran Reilly (Mullahoran native), Adrian Maguire, Brian Gumley and Michael Dunne to stay on for another year but they put in a big effort all year and couldn't be faulted for the way things turned out."
Finishing in second place in division one of the league and second place in the reserve league adds to the notion that Ballinagh are a 'coming' team.
And despite the fact that the Saffrons' haul at underage level in 2011 amounted to zilch doesn't dilute the sense of optimism and hope locally.
Silverware at underage level in Ballinagh in '11 was conspicuous by its absence; a rare year in which the winner's enclosure escaped the Saffrons.
At minor level, the club amalgamated with Cornafean but lost out in the MFL final and also at the semi-final stage of the division two championship.
Meanwhile the under 16s agonisingly lost out in both their league and championship deciders. Further down the line, the club's under 14s and 12s put in a lot of work with their various managerial teams but for all their graft the cups that cheer eluded them.
At the time of going to press, the novel under 21 amalgamation of Ballinagh, Cornafean and Lacken (Newtown Gaels) was preparing for battle.
So what's Michael's take on amalgamations, per se?
"A club would like to stay on its own in an ideal situation but amalgamations are the future and I can see them becoming more and more common.
"I can see clubs being hit more and more by emigration and that'll obviously effect the number of players available for selection.
"I don't think amalgamations will become more popular out of choice. They'll be more common out of necessity 'cause hard-hit clubs who can't field on their own will want their players - at whichever level they play at - getting a game, at least in the championship."
Ballinagh GFC has got a lot of admirers, county-wide. It's perceived as a hard-working and ambitious club which makes the most of its resources.
It's a club with a restricted catchment area, for starters. Make your way out past the bridge on the Longford road and Lacken territory awaits you.
Similarily, meander your way past the old school on the Crossdoney road and you'll spot the homes of the Reds representing Cornafean.
At the other end of the town, a good drop-kick past Robbie McDermott's house will also put the ball firmly in Lacken land.
"We've a street and a half and not a lot more after that," Michael says. It's a small area but we get on with it. Crying about it won't change any thing."
Quantity (of players) may not smother the club but there's a distinct degree of quality in Ballinagh GFC and all other clubs know that only too well.
The club benefits greatly from having uber-friendly GAA teachers working in Ballinagh National School. No surprise then that the school annexed premier titles in both boys and girls Cumann na mBunscoil arenas.
Ballinagh's progressive nature will see them possibly adding a gym in the next couple of years to their state-of-the-art facilities.
Over the last decade, the Saffrons have won a slew of under 14, 16, minor and under 21 titles and and it's goes without saying that all belonged to the club will work diligently to compensate for a year which climaxed on a disappointing note with their 1-11 to 0-15 ACFL Division One semi-final defeat to Mullahoran.
For upcoming analysis of how the club eventually managed to work the oracle and match their top notch facilities (stand, astro pitch, training pitch etc) and embellish their underage pedigree with victory in a SFC final, watch this space! Tweet
