The exquisite landscapes of Mayo

Skerries 1st XV v Ballina, 4th January, 2003 at Heffernan Park

Skerries 10
Ballina 10

It is easy now to rhapsodise about the exquisite landscapes of Mayo, illuminated to John Hinde level as they were on Saturday by a stark winter sun. But what if the Goats had continued past half-time with their abysmal first-half form? What if home out-half ANDERSON had been successful with just one more of his penalty attempts? Would the mouth of the Moy have looked as serenely seductive then? Would the black pints have been as unctuous on the palate? Our aesthetic senses are invariably hostage to practical considerations and it was the quiet satisfaction of taking two points away from Crocketstown which made all things seem bright and beautiful. The players in old gold, cerise and blue got it right instinctively. Raised arms at the final whistle suggested that they recognise a 10-all win when they see one.

Horses galloping over the prairie was the image evoked by the reverberation of studs across the lightly frozen surface of Dr. Heffernan Park. For at least half of the Skerries team the sound was an ominous one. The last time they would have heard it – unless they happen to have an addiction to old cowboy movies – was at Pearsonstown two year ago when it was the counterpoint to a thorough thrashing of the Goats by a rampant rugby-playing Barnhall side. For 40 minutes on Saturday it looked as if there might be a re-run. Rugby on ice is a chapter-heading that is rarely found in text-books but there is surely scope in this professional era for an in depth study of the genre. A basic bit of advice might be to prepare the season in the French Alps rather than on the warm sand of – forgive me, I promised not to use the word again – Bahrein. On the evidence available it does look as if lack of confidence in one’s footing creates more problems for the defender than for the attacker. Ballina, with a monopoly of possession and a willingness to supply their open field runners, had the visitors in all sorts of trouble and might well have opened an unassailable gap on the scoreboard in that first half. It was ironic, then, that their two tries in this period – one was disallowed – ensued from Skerries possession which was surrendered in the opposition half.

It is a axiom of cohesive forward play that no-one, whatever the distraction, loses sight of the ball’s location. What appeared to be a perfectly organised Skerries maul came to grief because those around the ball-carrier lost focus on the oval itself, allowing the home side to commit an act of grand larceny. A single layer defence was instantly breached, the kick ahead was added to and BRADY won the chase to the try-line. To the palpable relief of the Goats the referee had detected an act of obstruction in the pursuit and the score was scrapped. Unexpected manna fell the way of Ballina again on 26 minutes and this time the attack was wide and handsome and the try was for real. A mere seven point deficit at the break represented a commuted sentence for the visitors.

While the oranges were being taken HEENEY pressed the correct buttons on the console and the metamorphosis was immediate. It was Skerries turn to take charge now and they did so in large measure through the agency of the line-out. The three jacks-in-the-box DOWLING, O’SHEA and GREY devoured everything on their own throw and became progressively disruptive on the opposition launch. MULCAHY, given a start for the first time this season was in effervescent mood and local sages later agreed that Christine Murphy’s young lad is still a force to be reckoned with. Excessive fever close to the line deprived Skerries on a few occasions and when the equaliser did come it was in the shape of a trade-mark tour de force from the No. 11. KEANE’S barber leaves his head looking a bit like a set-aside area and KEANE, in turn, does the same to opposition defences. Taking a ball in the midfield from his homonym at out-half he swatted left and right and was still festooned with defenders as he slid into the promised land.

KEANE, C. kicked the conversion and soon struck the sweetest of dropped goals to offer his side a lead that, given the second-half transformation, was far from being a miscarriage of justice. But now with a quarter hour remaining Skerries relinquished control by kicking away possession with all the abandon of someone working a pin-ball machine. The pretext, presumably, was the hoary one of playing the game in the opposition half but why then, with the hegemony at line-out, was the ball not despatched to touch? Instead, the Mayo men gratefully capitalised on the purposeless punts to put the visiting rearguard under increasing pressure. ANDERSON missed a feasible kick before giving his side parity in the 71st minute and it required a superb bit of covering from DUFF to keep his line intact at the end. DUFF never ceases to elicit approval for his all-round ability. But is he the best scrum-half at the club’s disposal?

The ferment of the last quarter had seen KEANE, D break off diplomatic relations with his opposite number and in the wake of the home winger’s dismissal we were treated to the curious spectacle of Skerries supporters calling on an over heated Ballina aficionado to moderate his criticism of the referee. What was that old adage involving the pot and the kettle? Or the other about poachers and gamekeepers? Skerries at any rate are blessed with loyal support. The urgency of the exodus from Gaughans pub at 2.20 on Saturday almost provoked a call to the fire brigade and the Downhill was later said to be under heavy siege.