Ballyboden save their best until the final hurdle

Ballyboden St Enda’s 2-14 Castlebar Mitchels 0-7

Experience cuts both ways.

Ballyboden surged to a first AIB All-Ireland club football title at Croke Park despite being outsiders and never having won even a provincial title until this season.

They’ve had a remarkable campaign. Underdogs throughout the Dublin championship, barely favoured to beat Portlaoise in the Leinster final and nearly turfed out by Clonmel in the All-Ireland semi-final, Ballyboden saved the best until last.

Missing their suspended centrefielder Declan O’Mahoney, whose ban was severely criticised by his manager Andy McEntee, Ballyboden more than compensated for the high -catching O’Mahoney’s absence by deploying wing back Aran Waters in the middle and launching a fast, mobile game plan through the middle.

“Croke Park, there’s a lot of space out there and we decided very quickly that we’ve a lot of pace and you might as well make the most of it,” said McEntee.

Their forwards were accurate, especially in the early stages, when Colm Basquel and his brother Ryan struck for early scores and supplemented by the tireless support runs from deeper that produced points for wing backs Stephen O'Connor and Shane Durkin.

Corner back Bob Dwan was named Man of the Match. Marking Richie Feeney, who plays as a withdrawn full forward, Dwan was supremely comfortable in the wide expanses and took advantage of his surroundings to kick three points.

The conventional defensive effort was terrific as well. Stephen Hiney patrolled Danny Kirby vigilantly whereas left corner back Shane Clayton worked like a Trojan and hustled and blocked Stephen Keane into submission.

Opponents Castlebar lost the final two years ago, by common consent to an irresistible display by Diarmuid Connolly and St Vincent’s. The consensus was that they would have learned enough to take care of what was seen as a more prosaic challenge from the capital.

Maybe that consensus extended into Mayo because there are few things harder in sport than to wrest back control of a contest that has unexpectedly and radically turned into a disaster.

Demons lingering

Did any demons lingering from 2014 or from the county’s now regular Sisyphean attempts at senior All-Ireland titles in general return to torment Castlebar as Colm Basquel clinically converted a second-minute goal opportunity to open the scoring?

If they didn't they were surely out in force when Andrew Kerin precisely placed the ball into the left corner of Rory Byrne's net with a 15th minute penalty by which stage the Dubliners were nine ahead and the Connacht champions hadn't even managed a single score.

Manager Declan O’Reilly, in a lucid and almost haunting response to the match, which ended in a record defeat for a club team in an All-Ireland club final, said of the preparations, “we didn’t want to be another Mayo stat”.

That's what they got, though. Castlebar just couldn't find the variety up front to pose serious questions. Neil Douglas, who tried hard to ignite something, and Neil Lydon combined for the first score – a 45 by Douglas after Paul Durcan, hugely influential in goal with his keeping and kick-outs, had tipped away Lydon's 19th minute attempt at goal. But by half-time there was a daunting eight points in it, 2-5 to 0-3.

The winners could afford to lose Michael Macauley, who had aggravated a leg injury, by the 35th minute such was the chasm between the sides. He had done his work in the first half, disrupting the hitherto imposing pair of Ger McDonagh and Barry Moran.

Castlebar rallied somewhat. Paddy Durkin took the fight up field from wing back and kicked a point. The bench clearance added urgency but too often the attempts at making a scoring impact lacked coherence and accuracy as a dozen wides proved.

Ballyboden counter-attacked with gusto. There were six different scorers of the nine points in the second half and apart from a sequence of three in the middle of the half from Castlebar the margin just grew and grew.

Macauley was asked about the team that had delivered this long-odds All-Ireland.

“There’s no superstars in this team. The backs were amazing today, Shane Clayton was unbelievable. Bob Dwan was getting lost up in the full forwards, knocking points over. You can pick them all over the pitch, Robbie McDaid, Nelson, solid as a rock the whole championship - just one of those days when balls were going over the bar that mightn’t go over on another day and probably the opposite for Castlebar.”

BALLYBODEN ST ENDA'S: P Durcan; B Dwan (0-3), S Hiney, S Clayton; S O'Connor (0-1), D Nelson (capt), S Durkin (0-2); A Waters, MD Macauley (0-1); D O'Reilly (0-1), C Basquel (1-1), R McDaid; A Kerin (1-2, goal a penalty), C Keaney (0-1), R Basquel (0-2).

Subs: S Lambert for Macauley (35 mins), S Molony for R Basquel (60 mins), D Davey for O'Reilly (60 mins), D McCabe for Waters (60 mins), S Gibbons for McDaid (63 mins).

CASTLEBAR MITCHELS: R Byrne (capt); T Cunniffe, A Feeney, D Newcombe; P Durkan (0-1), E O'Reilly, R O'Malley; G McDonagh, B Moran; S Hopkins, N Lydon (0-1), N Douglas (0-2, one 45); S Keane, R Feeney, D Kirby.

Subs: F Durkan for Hopkins (24 mins), C Costello for Keane (37 mins), J Durkan (0-1) for R Feeney (37 mins), A Walsh (0-2, frees) for Douglas (41 mins), S Conlon for O'Malley (46 mins), R Burke for Newcombe (51 mins)

Referee: C Lane (Cork)