Mayobridge: The glory years

FROM a famine to a feast, Mayobridge couldn’t have anticipated the success the club would experience when they ended an 80-year wait for a Down Senior Championship title in 1999. Across the decade that followed, they dominated the club scene in the Mourne County.

In that period spanning eight decades, Mayobridge qualified for seven senior deciders but left on each occasion without that coveted cup. Their luck changed in ’99 though, when they finally got their hands on the Frank O’Hare trophy.

Getting over the line that year kick-started an unbelievable domino of dominance and Mayobridge went on to be the top dogs in Down. In ten years, Mayobridge won all but two county championships.

Lifting the cup above his head on that glorious day 25 years ago, captain Francie Poland couldn’t have foretold the fortune his club was about to experience. Something that had been such a far-off dream was soon to become a yearly ritual.

“We probably just took it one game at a time and one season at a time,” recalls Poland when reflecting back on that golden period. “But we were always confident too, in our own ability and the players we had.”

It felt as though their chance may have slipped away in 199, when Rostrevor overpowered 14-man Mayobridge by three points, but the opportunity came around again 12 months later, and the boys in blue made no mistake in 1999.

“I don’t have great memories of 1998, I got sent off,” laughed Poland, reflecting on their three-point defeat. “But getting to that final probably stood by us. Even though we were beaten, we learned from it.

“We were straight back into the final the following year and maybe sometimes you have to lose one to win one and we didn’t deserve to win it that day, Rostrevor was the better team.”

Eoghan Woods, who starred at midfield on that team, added: “Leading up to ’98, I’m not sure if we actually believed we could do it. We had a good enough team, we had won a league in 1993, and there were some boys on that panel that won all four leagues on the way up.

“We got to a couple of championship semi-finals. We were beat after a replay by Downpatrick in ’94, but I’m not sure we actually believed that we could push on and win a championship. Of course we always strived to do it.

“In ’98, there was this fresh batch of young fellas coming through. Jim McCorry came in and he was the manager at that stage, and we got to the final. Jim said it was a three-year plan and in ’98, we were two years ahead of ourselves.”

The 1999 success was a combination of a lot of things. Down had just won the All-Ireland Minor title and Mayobridge had five representatives on that team. Those fresh legs, coupled with the experienced heads in the panel, produced a recipe for success.

Benny Coulter was already a star at that young age, and he led the way for the Mourne County, kicking 1-2 as they beat Mayo 1-14 to 0-14. Mickey Walsh claimed 0-4. Brendan Grant was the no-nonsense full back. Ronan Sexton was corner-forward.

With the likes of Coulter now sharing the stage alongside All-Ireland winner Mickey Linden, Mayobridge and McCorry were starting to build a team that would take some stopping. And that’s exactly how it transpired.

“Those minors were super the whole way up,” said Woods. “There were people that spent a serious amount of time with them the whole way up. They were good footballers, but they worked really hard too. When they came in with us, they just played with no fear.

“It was brilliant, it really gave the whole squad a boost. Maybe from a management point of view it gave them a few headaches but sure that’s what you want. Maybe before that, the team was sort of picking itself.

“We knew then that there was some young fella after my place so you couldn’t miss training or go away for a weekend. You made sure that you were there, and you made sure you kept the head down and worked hard.”

Poland continued: “It wasn’t just those five – it was the likes of Noel Sexton, Gavin Barry, Adrian Barry. They were all just a year older than those boys, so they all came through at the one time. You had Kieran O’Hare and Ronan O’Hare too who were a bit older than them.

“It all worked well because we had a good blend of experience too with the likes of Mickey Linden and Robbie Coulter and myself. I was 27 at the time, and Shane McMahon too, so we had a good blend once the youth came through.”

The ingredients were all there. The youthful exuberance, the knowledge that comes with experience, the hurt of losing a county title. It was just about putting it all together and when it clicked, Mayobridge proved unstoppable.

Burren, the aristocrats of Down football and two-time All-Ireland winners in the ‘80s, stood in their way of landing the championship crown. The local derby added in an extra slice of spice, but fate ensured Mayobridge weren’t to be denied.

With the Down minors going all the way, the club championship was postponed and played later on in the season. That fed into the Ulster competition, and Burren were nominated to represent Down in the provincial series.

They faced a two-game battle against Fermanagh winners Enniskillen Gaels, which they lost after a replay, and took on Mayobridge shortly after in the Down final. Because of this, Mayobridge didn’t get to compete in Ulster despite being Down champions.

“That always was a good local derby . Obviously Burren had a very successful team, and I suppose we were always trying to emulate what they had done and for a long period we had never beaten them,” recalled Woods.

“But then a few years before that we started to beat them in the league and then in the championship so there was a wee bit of a rivalry that time and they had already played in Ulster the week before.”

Still, the chance to compete in the provincial series was the last thing the Mayobridge players were concerned with. They wanted the county title first and foremost and with a few minutes remaining in the final, they knew they had it.

“The celebrations were pretty lowkey,” chucked Poland, recalling the final whistle. “I remember Pat Garvey running up the line with a flag. The match was nearly over, there was only about a minute left.

“We were six points up (0-14 to 0-8) and once I saw that, I knew then that it was over. I don’t even know who I hugged or who I saw at the full-time whistle, it was just that massive sense of relief.”

“The club posted out a few clips recently on social media of a couple of men who are gone now and spent a lot of time around the club,” added Woods. “Dessie Grant and Peter Keenan. It was just when I saw it that I realised how much it meant to them.

“They had worked in the club for 60 years and they had never seen a day like it. I know we were living it, and we were in the middle of it, but it really was massive for them, it probably meant more to them than us really.”

In one of those clips, Peter Keenan predicted, “I hope we can follow and do what Burren did, and some of those men will maybe get 11 medals.” Mayobridge didn’t quite make it, but they weren’t far off it.

They contested all but one of the county finals in that ten-year period from 1998-2008. The year after ending the long wait, 2000, was the one and only time they didn’t reach the decider, and it was Clonduff who took home the title.

Poland and Woods don’t put it down to cockiness or lack of hunger, instead, it was just one of those days that didn’t fall their way. “Clonduff beat us in the semi-final, they scored two penalties, but that’s the way it goes,” explained Woods.

But the ‘Bridge came back with a vengeance in 2001 and recaptured the Frank O’Hare Cup, beating Castlewellan by three points, before competing in the Ulster Club Championship for the first time ever and going all the way to the showpiece.

They saw off Tyrone champs Carrickmore by the minimum of margins in the opening round while two goals from Benny Coulter, and another from Ronan Sexton, saw them overcome Castleblayney by six to reach the final.

There, Ballinderry lay in wait and the Derry men brought the Seamus McFerran Cup back to the Oak Leaf County for the third time in five years. Ballinderry ended up isecuring the club’s first ever All-Ireland title on a famous day in Thurles.

“We played some good football in those first two games and even the final itself against Ballinderry. It was a good game of football and there wasn’t much it in,” suggested Woods, “but we just fell short.”

“It was all new to us,” added Poland. “We didn’t know any of the teams, maybe one or two of their county players, so we had no fear of them. Every game was new to us, and it was a new journey, we really enjoyed it.”

Woods agreed: “It was a whole new challenge. You’re going to play against players you didn’t know but then you were coming up against players who were big or stronger or faster. A couple of those teams that beat us went on to win All-Ireland’s, so they were good sides.”

Mayobridge had another crack at an Ulster title in 2004, after reclaiming the Down championship they surrendered to Bryansford the year before. This time, it was Armagh’s all-conquering Crossmaglen that dashed their provincial dreams.

They needed a replay to shake off Ardara in the quarter-final, and once again overcame their old adversaries in Carrickmore in the semi-final, with Robbie and Benny Coulter finding the net this time around.

While they had been here before, their chances were just that wee bit slimmer in 2004. Mayobridge had been hit with an injury crisis, while Mickey Linden left the field after 12 minutes following that infamous challenge from Francie Bellew.

“Mickey Walsh got injured and Ronan Sexton got injured. They were two vital players for us, and I think they both got injured in the Down Championship,” described Poland. “It’s not that we overachieved that year, but they were two serious players for us.

“I’m not saying that we would have won it if we had them, but it would have been a different game. I think Ronan came on, but it was his first match back. If we had those two boys fully fit, it could’ve ended differently.”

Woods added, “They got off to a whirlwind start. The first 10 or 15 minutes, they were kicking points from crazy positions, and they were flying over the bar. John Murtagh kicked six points in the first half.

“We clawed it back rightly, but we just weren’t fit to get over the line against them. They were a big, strong, physical team all over the field and the conditions at that time of year probably suited them.”

All these years on, and with the amount of championship medals the pair have in their back pockets, not doing it in Ulster is still a regret. They were involved in a team that achieved more than any Mayobridge man could have dreamed of, but they wanted more.

“You’d be annoyed that we didn’t win an Ulster especially when everyone was probably expecting us to go and win an Ulster at that stage,” Woods confirmed.

“But after time I suppose, you can look back on it and say that we did our bit. We won our championships and of course we tried hard, but we just couldn’t get over the line in Ulster, it is still a regret.”

Poland echoed his former teammates thoughts: “There were some serious teams around in Ulster at that time. Ballinderry, Cross, St Gall’s, Dromore, we got a couple of trimmings from those teams too.”

That Mayobridge side achieved another milestone in landing the club’s only ever five in-a-row. While no one could have seen the riches that would befall Mayobridge following that 1999 championship success, who would have guessed that 2008 would be their last title?

They reached the 2012 showpiece, but the Kilcoo train was beginning to build up a head of steam. In the 14 years that have passed, Mayobridge haven’t reached another county final, but Poland and Woods are working hard together to change that record.

The pair are in charge of the club’s minor team that have just won back-to-back championships and if history can repeat itself and reward the club for all it’s persistence at underage level, perhaps it won’t be too long until Mayobridge are back in the big time.

“Maybe when we were successful, we took our eye off the ball at underage level in the club,” confirmed Poland of their work with the youth teams. “There’s no doubt about it, that’s the plan anyway, to try and build them up into the senior team.”

“A while back we said we needed to go back and work our way up through,” added Woods. “It wasn’t really about winning but if you can win along the way then it just makes it so much easier. That bunch are there at the minute and they just want to win, they’re a pleasure.

“There’s nine of them going into the senior setup (next year) so hopefully they’ll bring a bit of freshness into the whole squad. You can’t expect too much of them too quick, but you’d like to think we’ll be pushing.

“The aim is to be in the top three or four in the league consistently for a couple of years and then go and push for it, hopefully. We’d like them to experience what we experienced.”

Poland was the captain in 1999. Woods earned the man of the match award in the final. The two men were major driving forces in ending Mayobridge’s dry spell, and they’re determined to do that once again.