Too good for intermediate
November 30, 2004
Ballybay Pearse Brothers are Monaghan Intermediate Football Champions for the year 2004 and, as a result, have now been promoted to senior grade football, where they will compete against the very best in the county in 2005.
It is only fitting that Ballybay should have regained their place in the upper echelons of Monaghan football as they have been one of the most consistent clubs in the county since the very foundation of the GAA in Monaghan at the tail end of the nineteenth century.
Few clubs can boast of such a proud record as Ballybay, with a string of County Championship titles to their credit that is surely the envy of the majority of senior clubs in the county today.
The Golden Jubilee of our very first success was celebrated just over a year ago when the surviving members of the great 1959 team were the guests at a major function in the town. The hopes were expressed on that occasion, such a short time ago, that Ballybay would soon be competing in senior football again, and those hopes have now become a reality.
The 'Glorious Fifties' will always be recalled with pride in Ballybay, as that 1953 success was followed by three more Championship wins in that particular decade - 1954, 1957 and 1957, two more the following decade - 1962 and 1969, and one in the 'eighties - 1987. That is a record that has only been surpassed by so very few other clubs in the county and it is one that Ballybay hope will be added to, in the not too distant future. 2004 has been the stepping stone to that great ambition.
The current band of players are really shaping up to succeed the great names of the past and several appear to have the ability even to surpass the achievements of yesterday's heroes. Names like Tommy Bradley, Peter Duffy, Charlie McCarthy, etc., etc., - the list goes on and on, and we are bound to leave out somebody -- from those halcyon days of the 'fifties and 'sixties, to be followed by the Wards, Paddy Linden, Ciaran and PJ Finlay, and so many more, in more recent times. Is it any wonder that Ballybay people are so confident that past glories will be repeated, when they have such fine examples to follow, and, even more importantly, that the talent is currently available to succeed.
There were also some lean times in the not too distant past, a year even when Ballybay suffered the ignominy of being relegated to junior ranks, but the age old spirit was there and the sojourn at the lowest level was a minimum duration. Ballybay dug their heels in and began the climb back up the football ladder. A year in senior ranks, however, and it was relegation again to Intermediate grade, but that too has now being overcome and this time there will be no repeat. There is no way that Ballybay can ever again be in any grade but Senior - that is their birthright and that is where they truly belong.
The 2004 season must be described as a truly successful one, and even though we failed to capture the "Intermediate Double" - a slip-up against Emyvale in the League semi-final cost us that one -- the Championship is ours, and there is nothing to compare with a Championship title. Even though the League title did not come our way, we proved that we were the best Intermediate team in the county right through the year, as we topped the League Table (for the Vincent McAviney Cup) from "Day One", scoring the most points and conceding a meagrely three defeats.
Ballybay's successful run through the Championship began on the second weekend in May when we were drawn to meet Doohamlet in the opening game. At that stage we were already showing a clean pair of heels to the other Intermediate teams in the League campaign, with decisive wins over Monaghan Harps, Doohamlet, Eire Og and Rockcorry, and only two slip-ups - to Tyholland and Emyvale, the teams that we would get the better of later on in the season, and avenge those two defeats. The Ballybay forwards, with Paul Finlay in devastating form, went on a scoring spree in this Championship encounter, and the final score-line of Ballybay 2-18, Doohamlet 1-6, gives a clear indication of Ballybay's all-round superiority throughout the game.
A sting of League wins over Clones, Drumhowan, Donaghmoyne, Tyholland and Monaghan Harps gave us the confidence we needed for the second game in the Championship where we were drawn to meet Rockcorry in the 'Winners Section' of the series. The venue was Castleblayney and the date was Sunday 18th July. Hopes were high that Paul Finlay, Paraic Kerr, the Malone brothers, Kevin Finlay, Bryan McCabe, Ross Connolly and Fergal Smyth would 'produce the goods' and these same hopes were amply fulfiled as Ballybay again stormed to success.
By the end of July, Ballybay stood proudly at the top of the Intermediate League Table with ten wins out of twelve games played, and now awaited semi-final opponents from the 'losers section' of the Championship - the teams that had come back into the running through the 'back door' system, following one defeat. Also at this stage, i.e. early August, the club had brought the provision of facilities at Pearse Park to a new level with the launch of a new 'Astro Turf' training pitch, a project that was part of a 1.2 million euro development and which was much needed by the club in order to alleviate the pressure of finding training venues for teams, especially in times of bad weather. The flood-lit facilities included a revolutionary surface which is suitable for both hurling and football.
Our opposition in the 'Last Four' of the Championship would be Clones and, under the masterful tutorship of team manager Macartan Sammon, aided by the famed Ciaran 'Jap' Finlay, Ballybay were well prepared to do battle with the west county town. Once again Ballybay proved the masters of the second semi-final, Emyvale or Tyholland, the two teams that we had a 'crow to pluck with' from earlier in the year. As it turned out, it would be Tyholland, and the Final was fixed for the first Sunday in October.
Again a nice League run-up, with victories over Eire Og, Rockcorry, Emyvale, Clones, and Drumhowan, just to make sure that the approach was perfect. The venue was Clontibret and what a real hum-dinger this one turned out to be. Heavy rain and a strong wind made conditions difficult for both teams on this occasion to provide spectators with one of the finest Intermediate Finals ever in Monaghan football history. The same two teams had contested the 2001 Final when Ballybay came out on top, and memories of that game must surely have been in the minds of so many of the players who had also taken part in that decider.
The midfield partnership of Paul Finlay and Colin Malone proved a real power-house for Ballybay, while Brian McCabe gave an outstanding display at right half forward and must surely have been in contention for the man-of-the-match award. The tall Paul Finlay showed that he had nothing to learn from his famous father Ciaran, with a superb display of high fielding and accurate place kicking, while Hugh Malone was the perfect leader of the attack. There was little or nothing between the sides all through, with Ballybay clinging to a one point lead, but Tyholland notched the equaliser in injury time and the sides finished all-square - Ballybay 0-14, Tyholland 1-11. A truly fair result.
Ballybay lined out:- Sean Gorman, Ross Connolly, Fergal Smyth, John Kerr, Fergal McArdle, Thomas O'Neill, Cathal Linden, Colin Malone, Paul Finlay, Bryan McCabe, Hugh Malone, Kevin Finlay, Shane McQuillan, Pauric Kerr and Paul Stuart. Sub used:- Richie Reilly. The points came from Paul Finlay (4), Hugh Malone (3), Kevin Finlay (2), Shane McQuillan (2), Bryan McCabe (1), Pauric Kerr (1) and Pat Stuart (1).
The replay took place at the same venue the following Sunday, 10th October, and what a crowd turned up for that one. They were in high expectations of a repeat super exhibition of football and they were not to be disappointed. Tense and exciting it was, although it never really reached the great heights of the drawn game, with both sides looking that little bit nervous, as might have been expected. For Ballybay there was again a great all-round performance, with man-of-the-match Fergal Smyth outstanding at full back, team captain Fergal McArdle leading by example all through, Paul Finlay and Colin Malone consistent as ever at midfield. Kevin Finlay outstanding in attack, and Shane McQuillan scoring a couple of superb points. Goalkeeper Sean Gorman took off one absolutely superb save at a crucial period, while Pauric Kerr again showed his traditional consistency throughout.
Six times during the game the sides were level, was still all-square at half-time, and had all the appearances of ending in yet another draw. Paul Finlay, as might even have been expected, opened the scoring for Ballybay but Tyholland levelled. Shane McQuillan and Kevin Finlay put Ballybay two points ahead, but again Tyholland equalised. That was how it continued until half-time with point cancelling out point. With ten minutes left Paul Finlay put Ballybay ahead with two fine points but again Tyholland levelled. Time was now running out and had even gone into injury time when Kevin Finlay showed a real cool head once again for Ballybay and his perfectly placed free sailing over the bar for the winning score.
The final whistle followed very shortly after to leave it 0-9 to 0-8 in favour of Ballybay, and what scenes of delight followed with the victory charge ably led by team manager Macartan Sammon. He was full of praise for his charges, and rightly so, as they had all done Ballybay proud. It is a team that will go down in Ballybay fokelore and is surely worth recording here again for posterity:-
Sean Gorman, Cathal Linden (0-1), Fergal Smyth, Sean McCabe, Fergal McArdle, Bryan McCabe, Thomas O'Neill, Colin Malone, Paul Finlay (0-2), Shane McQuillan (0-2), Hugh Malone, Paul Stuart, Kevin Finlay (0-4), Pauric Kerr and Enda Keenan. Subs used:- Brendan Duffy and Richie Reilly.
Hopes were high that this great Championship win would be followed up with a League title but, unfortunately, we slipped up to Emyvale the following Sunday, losing by a single point, perhaps because of the high-powered concentration of the two previous Sundays, when it took two games to decide the Premier title race. However, the important one belonged to Ballybay and that was the Championship. And nothing can beat a Championship!!
Ballybay then had the honour of representing Monaghan in the first round of the Ulster Intermediate Club Football Championship, a competition that had previously been run by the Clontibret club, but which has now been granted national status by the GAA. This meant a trip to Newry to play the Armagh champions, Carrickcruppen on Sunday 24th October. The performance here was not on a par with our county championship showings, and we were left to rue the missing of several gilt edged chances, including a penalty miss, Paul Finlay's shot going over the bar instead of under it, that eventually proved the deciding factor, as the Armagh side went on the record a 1-9 to 0-7 victory. Still the experience was great and Ballybay has the honour of representing the county in the first ever Official Intermediate Club Football Championship.
Ballybay lined out:- Sean Gorman, Sean McCabe, Fergal Smyth, Cathal Linden, Fergal McArdle, Bryan McCabe (0-2), Thomas O'Neill, Bonny Duffy, Paul Finlay (0-3), Pauric Kerr (0-1), John Kerr, Paul Stuart, Niall Donaghy, Kevin Finlay (0-3) and Enda Keenan. Subs used:- Darren Smyth, Paul McCabe and Niall Duffy.
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