By Pádraic Ó Ciardha

TRADING a lie-in on St Stephen’s Day morning for a run out in Croke Park seems a fair enough deal and the An Cheathrú Rua players will surely now agree as they look forward to an All-Ireland final appearance in two weeks time.

Maghnus Breathnach put his players through their paces on December 26 in preparation for last Sunday’s clash with Ballinagar but the Gaeltacht side’s dramatic one-point victory ensured that flags and bunting will be staying up around south Conamara for the coming weeks even as the lights and decorations are coming down.

“Some of the lads can take the turkey out of the freezer and have it now if they want,” laughed the An Spidéal-native after his side’s 1-9 to 0-11 win over the Offaly and Leinster champions in Dr Hyde Park.

“But listen, it was all worth it. The last few weeks have been completely worth it and I’m delighted for them now. The first team from this part of the county to be up in Croke Park, it’s a great achievement for them.”

Between some excellent Ballinagar performances and their own mistakes, An Cheathrú Rua were made to work very hard for the win and only got over the line thanks to points from goalkeeper James Ó Flatharta and substitute Paudie Mac Cormaic in the last couple of minutes.

“Honesty, relief,” was how Breathnach described his emotions soon after the final whistle. “Relief because, to be honest, I’d say Ballinagar were excellent for the majority of the game and they really put it to us. They really stifled us and they had a good hard running game as well.

“But, In fairness, no more than how we found the answers in the county final against Killererin, the boys found the answers today and some lads really stood up and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and you’d have to be extremely proud of them.”

Match-winner Paudie Mac Cormaic and defender Colin Ó Domhnaill were two picked out by their manager for special mention, having both come back from long-term injuries. Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final was Ó Domhnaill’s first start since picking up a cruciate knee injury over a year ago and Mac Cormaic’s first appearance of any kind in An Cheathrú Rua’s championship campaign due to a back injury.

“For Paudie to come in a year after being injured, Colin being 13 months out with a cruciate, those lads gave us that extra little bit of pep to be able to kick on,” said Breathnach.

An Cheathrú Rua needed a kick as well as, other than a lightning start and another burst towards the end of the opening period, the Galway side were second best for long spells.

“We were disappointed, I suppose because we got off to a very good start and then we dropped our tempo. Ballinagar raised their game and we weren’t able to match it for a good 15-20 minutes in the first half, to be honest.

“We picked off a few late scores at the end of the first half so even though it wasn’t a top performance or to the standard we were looking for, we still went in a point up after grafting and grafting and grafting so we were very happy with that,” explained Breathnach.

“It’s January football, winter football, so it’s a little bit slower, a lower scoring game. I suppose the main score of the game was the goal [scored by Maitiú Ó Domhnaill in the 42nd minute], that was the decider. We’ve scored a goal in every one of our championship games to date and thank God we got another one today.”

Another crucial score was James Ó Flatharta’s ‘45 to bring the sides level in the 60th minute before Mac Cormaic kicked the winner. A fellow member of Tthe Goalkeepers’ Union, and one more than familiar with pressure frees, Breathnach was well aware of what his ‘keeper had in his locker, especially as Ó Flatharta kept telling him as much.

“James has been at me the last few months asking could he take the long-range frees,” said Breathnach. “We’ve been going back and forth but you just have to back your players and today we trusted James to do that. He kicked two great, monster scores when we needed scores badly and he stood up. To kick an equaliser like that, there was serious, serious pressure, but he was up to it.”

Ó Flathartha explained after the game that he and his manager have worked on a couple aspects of his game this season with an eye to allowing the ‘keeper make contributions such as those on Sunday.

“I suppose he advised me to shorten my run up a bit [on placed balls] to make sure the contact is good and that’s something I’ve worked on. I’ve a big kick so I can get plenty of distance in them.

“Maghnus has given me the licence to get involved further up the pitch as well and while it’s not something we saw today, it’s a sign he has confidence in me and gives you a boost during games.”

Had Ó Flatharta missed that 60th minute kick, it was difficult to see An Cheathrú Rua conjuring something in the final two minutes and certainly not a win but despite the pressure and the Baltic conditions, Ó Flatharta said he stuck to his routine.

“There wasn’t much going through my head. I’m not sure there ever is,” he laughed afterwards. “I just said I’d have to make good contact and thank God it flew between the posts. I missed one in the first half but when you know the minute it leaves your boot if it’s well-struck and once I saw where this one was heading, I knew it was going over.”

Ó Flatharta was frank in his assessment of An Cheathrú Rua’s second half performance – “that’s probably the worst half of football we’ve played all year” –  but he never lost faith that the chances would come.

“Someone’s name is always called. Stiofán Ó Briain answered in the county final. Éanna Mac Cormaic and Pádraig Mac Donnacha against Salthill. Fergal Ó Sé in the Connacht championship and Paudie Mac Cormaic got the winner then today. Someone always needs to step up.”

One more step and one more call now awaits as An Cheathrú Rua look to finish a brilliant campaign with an All-Ireland title in Croke Park.

“It’s been a dream for me to play there since I was four years old. I’m getting emotional now even thinking of it. That’s where we always wanted to get to. We wanted to go back up to Intermediate after a couple of rough years but there’s nowhere bigger than Croke Park.

“It was a dream and now it’s becoming a reality.”

Pictured: Fionán Ó Conghaile of An Cheathrú Rua in possession against Brian Malone of Ballinagar during Sunday’s All-Ireland Club Junior Football semi-final at Hyde Park. Photos: David Cunniffe.