TOUGH TASK AHEAD Can Baltinglass continue what has been a super year?
Preview IT’S a welcome return to Leinster club action for 2016 Wicklow champions Baltinglass on Sunday next as the first-time winners from Louth Sean O’Mahonys come to Aughrim for a 2 p.m. throw in.
Baltinglass lifted their 22nd Wicklow senior title with a 1-14 to 1-09 win over St Patrick’s three weeks ago and will relish the chance of finally getting another long-awaited crack at Leinster’s premier club competition.
A fine team and management performance on the day has rightly earned Baltinglass plenty of internal acclaim and now they are back at the top in Wicklow football they could be hard to shift.
For now, the challenge of the Louth men under manager Alan Craven will be foremost in the thoughts of manager Paul Garrigan and the rest of his backroom team.
Craven, like Garrigan, knows now first-hand how much the success of a county title means to the local area. He is a staunch O’Mahonys man and that is proof once more that many clubs have the men to guide them to triumph in their own ranks and the need for outside influence isn’t always the answer.
Sean O’Mahonys lifted the Joe Ward Cup in Louth a week prior to the Baltinglass success after pipping Saint Marys from Ardee with a late goal from full-forward Conor Crawley.
They were four points down with 11 minutes to play and shot 1-3 in the closing stages to turn things around to win 1-11 to 1-09.
It was certainly a sweet win after losing the final 12 months previous. You can be sure that a few interested spectators from the Wee county were in Aughrim to see the west men triumph the following week.
They only won the Louth Intermediate title in 2014 and went on to play in the Leinster club Intermediate final later that year where they beat Ballinlough from Meath before St Croans from Roscommon pipped them 0-14 to 2-07 in the All-Ireland semi-final. Contesting their fourth major final in three short years shows the Louth representatives certainly won’t lack for big game experience and judging by the celebrations they have enjoyed since their maiden Senior success they like the taste and trappings of victory.
From singing in the local church to the VIP seats on the Ray Darcy show the men from the Quay have milked the win for all it is worth and who would blame them?
You can be sure that Craven and Garrigan will both have attempted to get the mix right of both enjoying the adulation that being champions brings and putting the work in to win a game that both will certainly fancy their chances in.
Kevin Brennan is by all accounts a top-class keeper for O’Mahonys but Baltinglass also possess one of their own in Mark Jackson who is as modern day as they come in the goalkeeping world. Accurate, speedy kick outs added to the capability to kick long range frees are crucial in the Baltinglass game plan.
After a shaky period in the early rounds of the Louth championship where they were conceding goals O’Mahonys seem to have now settled on a full-back line of Conor Martin, Ronan Byrne and Michael Clarke. The O’Mahonys half-back line has John O’Brien at centre back and the man who has given so many years of service to the Louth county jersey will have been delighted to have finally been rewarded with a Senior medal.
He is regularly flanked by Kurt Murphy and Barry O’Brien. Defensively they conceded 6-41 along the way to winning the title with that being an average of 12 points a game. On the other side Baltinglass got through the Wicklow championship conceding an average of just nine points so both know how to defend.
Sean O’Brien is born again as the closest man to goal for Balto and his unselfish play is a reason why the finishing power of the man of the match in the final Joey Kelly and his young sidekick Dan Kelly is more evident this year.
He chipped in with the vital goal in the county final to settle the team at a pivotal stage of the game. This is the line that could win it for Baltinglass if they can keep their level of performance up to the high standards they have set themselves lately. Joey will punish any fouls Sean O’Mahonys may commit and games like this will only benefit the development of Dan Kelly who looks a fine prospect.
Their half-forward line with the elusive play making skills of Henry Sinnott and the intelligent play of both John McGrath and Ian Sheerin is so, so important to everything Baltinglass do.
McGrath now has a leading role like that of an on-field director as he guides and dictates the passages of play, being able to reinvent himself in the deeper role has helped him and the team no end.
The temptation to move him inside if things aren’t going well will always be there and could be a match winning move.
Sheerin must have been high on the list for man of the match nominees the last day after every blade of grass in Aughrim would have felt him pass by in a selfless display of energy for his side.
Underrated he may be by some but undervalued by Baltinglass he certainly isn’t, his winning of breaking ball while on the move forward and his awareness of danger when back in his defence leads to him having possession figures in to the twenties in some games. He has kicked some important scores in the championship to date and his covering allows others to break forward with comfort knowing he will cover.
Captain Shane Brennan and Liam Dullaghan are a strong midfield pairing for Sean O’Mahonys but will find the work rate of Baltinglass captain Jason Kennedy and Kevin Murphy a real problem as both never stop moving and working on and off the ball. If the Balto pairing can break even in the fielding stakes they should get a vital pull in this area.
Conor Finnegan got the man of the match accolade in the Louth showpiece after kicking 0-6, with his dead ball striking top class, so the Baltinglass backs must be very disciplined in their tackling, they have been to date.
Centre forward Ben McLaughlin is a classy player who could easily have been collecting medals and lining up for Dundalk in Europa League action, he can kick scores with both feet and is comfortable in possession. He will be a big threat as will Stephen Fisher who was one of their top scorers when in the full-forward line. Corner-forward Jonathan Connolly had a real impact in their final win having a hand in five of their scores, the result of being in possession of the ball 17 times during the game, impressive and dangerous from a Baltinglass perspective.
Full-forward Conor Crawley got the all-important goal in the final and Stephen Kilcoyne in the corner was top scorer in the campaign going in to that game.
For Baltinglass the vastly experienced Tommy Murphy has steadied the full-back line where John Murray and injury free fullback Mark Staines have been exceptional. Slow to settle at times they had conceded goals against both Saint Bodens and Coolkenno in the opening seconds but didn’t offer up one opportunity last time out.
Billy Cullen showed all his shrewdness holding the central role and with the two hyperactive twins Pat and Tom Burke on either side they won’t give McLoughlin, Finnegan and co a moment’s peace.
It will take a massive effort once more from the Baltinglass camp to get through this one as the Louth men will travel with real optimism and the intention to have a real cut off Baltinglass.
Historically, Baltinglass have always embraced the challenge of the club championship.
Having missed out on playing in the competition the last time they lifted the Miley Cup in 2007, they will be eager for their first appearance in 22 years as Wicklow champions on the playing field to be a winning one.
On that occasion, back in 1994, they were only pipped by Dublin champions Kilmacud Crokes by 0-12 to 0-11 and with Crokes going on to lift the All-Ireland the following March, aided by Wicklow men Padraig Dalton and the late Seamus Morris (RIP). That Baltinglass side may well have wondered what might have been.
Sunday could be the first step on another memorable journey to keep a brilliant year going a while longer. Home advantage and plenty of Wicklow support should see them over this tricky hurdle.