Raring to go in ‘Gold’ search - Ballina striker Michael Duffy wants to add to his haul of medals

Pictured at a press conference to announce details of next Sunday’s Connacht Gold Cup final between Iorras Aontaithe and Ballina Town were, from left, Anthony Mills, captain, Iorras Aontaithe, Sean Henry, Connacht Gold, and Aidan Reape, Ballina Town. INSET Ballina Town ace Michael Duffy is hoping to inspire his side to victory in next Sunday’s Connacht Gold Cup final.THE low point in Ballina Town’s year – the club’s 50^th – came on a bitter day at Forthill, Sligo, in March for a Connaught Cup clash with Carbury FC, who put four past them without reply, and it could have been much more.

Down to the bare bones and with Declan O’Connor – who played that day before going off with an injury – as stand-in manager, it was all a far cry from the end of 2010 when they basked in the glory of a second successive league title under the guidance of the club’s most successful manager, Brendan Kenny.

Time passed and still a permanent manager had to be found. Then, just before the league season started, Alan Gough came in and took on the job.

Gough had impressed in 2010 with Swinford, taking the just promoted side to safety in the Super League with relative ease.

But it took time for Gough to get to know his new players in Ballina and for them to get to know him.

A slow start to the league season meant the Super League defence was over almost as soon as it had begun, but an improvement in form coincided with the start of the Connacht Gold Cup.

Now, with Town preparing for the final of that competition against Iorras Aontaithe on Sunday (k.o. 3.30 p.m. in Milebush Park, Castlebar), it’s the cup that offers Ballina the chance of securing silverware this year.

Ten years ago success in the competition awoke the ‘sleeping giant’ of Mayo football, and while it took time for Town to build on that win, eventually the titles started to come.

But one of the main architects of the success in recent years, striker Michael Duffy, wasn’t involved in the 2001 win. “It’s a trophy I haven’t won and definitely it would be a reward for the effort we’ve put in this season,” he observes.

Duffy, who has formed a potent relationship with Brendan Lavelle, says everyone in the squad is ‘fit and raring to go’.

The problems at the start of the season he has put down to the new manager and players getting used to each other, which took five or six games. “But Alan’s been a great addition to the club, bringing in new ideas and trying to up the professionalism a bit.”

 

Avenge

After a few years of enjoying the upper hand against Iorras, Town went down to a 1-0 defeat to the Belmullet-based club in their last league encounter at Belleek Park in the summer.

“We’ll be hoping to avenge that defeat,” says Duffy. “Nothing went for us that day and they outfought us. We’ve had some great results against them in recent years so I’d like to think the last result was a once-off and hopefully we can avenge that. But they’re a serious side with good, experienced players.”

Duffy has three of his brothers playing in the team lately – Mark in goal, Thomas at centre-half alongside Derek Tansey, and Pat in midfield. Another brother, Peter, has played sporadically in the past few years, though he – like Thomas – is based in the UK.

“We hope all five of us will play together some time,” says Michael.

Of more immediate concern is the cup final, which the former Republic of Ireland junior international says he is very much looking forward to.

“We’ll definitely be ready for the Iorras challenge, which is a big one. But the cup offers us a great opportunity to salvage something from the season, and I feel we deserve to win something for the effort we have put in.”

Iorras have been bolstered lately by the return of Chris Barrett, while they will look to the likes of Brendan Nallen, Michael S. Togher and Jonathan Donoghue for the creative spark needed to break down Town’s defence.

Unfortunately, Iorras will be missing a number of key players for Sunday’s encounter. David Reilly, Mark Gilbert and Michael Meenaghan have commitments in England at the weekend while Henry and John Gaughan are in Australia, which weakens the squad somewhat.

But whatever way it works out on Sunday, the cup final brings together two of Mayo’s most consistent sides over the past few years to go head-to-head. It should be a game to remember.