Clonbur men strive to crown fairytale run with All-Ireland title

CIARAN TIERNEY

A mass exodus from a small pocket of North Galway is on the cards this weekend when Clonbur bid to become the first team from the county to win the All-Ireland junior football club title by beating Derrytresk of Tyrone at Croke Park (2pm).

Never before has there been so much interest in a junior final, due to the fallout from the Ulster men’s controversial victory over Dromid Pearses of Kerry in last month’s semi-final, but Clonbur’s main task is to focus on 60 minutes of football and ignore the sideshows which have cast a shadow over the fixture.

Three of the Ulster men’s starting XV are suspended for the final – centre forward Joe McKee had his suspension lifted during a hearing at Croke Park on Tuesday night – and there was even a threat that they could be banned from the final at one stage.

Defenders Sean Slater and Kevin Campbell and wing forward Michael Robinson will all have to watch the game from the Hogan Stand after their suspensions were upheld by the GAA authorities, even though they were reduced from four to two months. Four of their subs are still suspended for the final.

The Tyrone club is banned from provincial and All-Ireland club competitions for the next five years and only four of their non-playing members (manager, secretary, doctor, and physio) will be allowed onto the pitch before or after the game, or at half-time.

One female supporter, who hit Kerry star Declan O’Sullivan with a handbag, has been banned from GAA games for a year and will miss her club’s first ever game at headquarters. A video of the semi-final brawl has attracted over 160,000 ‘hits’ on You Tube, which is not the kind of interest normally associated with a junior football competition.Given that Robinson is their best forward, Derrytresk are bound to travel to Croke Park with a huge sense of grievance even though the fine imposed on them by the GAA authorities was reduced from €5,000 to €2,500 this week.

So what should be a dream Croke Park date for both clubs has instead been shrouded in controversy since Derrytresk beat Dromid Pearses by 1-10 to 0-7 in Portlaoise on January 22 last.

The danger for Clonbur manager Stephen Joyce is that his side may now be installed as strong favourites to lift the title, whereas he expects Derrytresk to be more motivated than ever in the wake of three weeks of controversy, suspensions, and appeals.

In a way, there has been so much controversy over the Ulster side’s semi-final that people barely noticed that Clonbur beat Ballivor of Meath by 3-4 to 0-3 on the same day in Carrick-on-Shannon to set up their own club’s fairytale place at Croke Park on Sunday.

“You can try to ignore all the controversy, but it is there in your face the whole time,” said Clonbur manager Stephen Joyce this week. “It has been a distraction, which probably hasn’t helped us, with the appeal taking place on Tuesday night.

“They will still have 15 players on the field and they will be highly motivated. We are going to be facing 15 players who are going out onto that pitch with a cause. People are saying it will be easier for us, but that might give them a psychological advantage. No doubt, they will be saying that everyone is against them.”

For Joyce, the main mission now is to get the mindset of his players right ahead of the final. They have to be wary of ‘loose talk’, that they will find it easier to overcome a side weakened by the absence of three key men.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.