'There’s so much belief in this group...' Neil Lordan’s words ring true as Ballinora advance

As Ballinora’s subs and selectors poured onto the Ovens pitch, joy and disbelief collided. There were hugs, roars, and the buzz that only comes when a club realises it’s made history, or in Ballinora’s case, on the verge of doing so.

Their win over Kilmurry in the Intermediate A Football Championship semi-final was a thunderclap – a ferocious, pulsating Muskerry derby that ended with Ballinora in dreamland.

When we caught defender Neil Lordan afterwards, he was still trying to breathe it all in.

“Unbelievable,” he began. “This group was in a relegation final only two years ago. Ken O’Halloran, it was his first year in charge. Willie Lyons, Gary O’Halloran, Denis O’Neill, they all could have left. And they stuck with us.

“And you see the emotion of the players there. That's because of how much this group has been through and we're just absolutely delighted with the win today.” 

The disbelief was layered with conviction. Ballinora had gone toe-to-toe with the reigning Munster junior champions – a team whose rise had become the blueprint – and refused to blink.

“I'm telling you, there's so much belief in this group. To be honest, you could put us up against anyone and we'd just have a right crack off them.

“The last few years, we've really been playing within our shell and we've finally taken off the shackles. There's so much potential in this group, and we're just really looking forward to the county final now.” 

The sweeter part? Doing it against neighbours who’ve lived the dreams they’re now chasing.

“Listen, it's great to beat a team that qualified directly for a semi-final,” Neil said. “Kilmurry are an unreal outfit. They've won Munster, they've won two junior counties, and they're a great team.

They will be back again, but we're really going to build off this. 

"We just can't wait to have a proper crack off Ilen Rovers now.”

Kilmurry’s recent success has been fuelled by a strong age profile – something Ballinora already possess, and with their steady stream of underage triumphs in recent years, they’re only going to get stronger.

“I hope you're right!” Lordan said. “My own age and even the years above me, we were playing 13 aside.

MOMENTUM

“And you can see now, even yesterday, they won an U15 Premier 1 county title in hurling. Momentum just keeps building in the club and it's great. From the underage up, we're in a great time at the moment.” 

That momentum was visible everywhere on Sunday – ten different scorers, nine of them contributing to the first 1-8 of their 2-17 haul.

“This isn't a one-man team at all. All our forwards, all our backs, we're well able to play and we're very balanced. We take great pride in that.” 

But this wasn’t easy by any means. Kilmurry led by five and six at various stages in the first half. They were still ahead until the 52nd minute. In years gone by, that might have been enough to break Ballinora.

Not anymore.

“No panic!” Lordan grinned “You know what? We've learned a lot of lessons from panicking in the past and I think it's standing to us now,” Lordan explained. “I'd say the team last year compared to now, we would have lost a lot of the games we've been in. Gabriel's, and even this one today against Kilmurry.” 

For manager Willie Lyons, he still couldn’t process it either.

“It means everything,” Lyons said. “Probably still trying to process it, probably still struggling for words.

“I think genuinely, we felt we had every chance coming here today but we knew Kilmurry were a very seasoned team, that had been at the business end for the last two or three years and done well. We knew if we backed ourselves that we'd have every chance.

“One of the things we've worked on is balance, and maybe not over reliance on one or two players because on any day, that can fall apart.

“So that did epitomise some of the stuff we talked about in recent weeks which was, spreading the load, and any guy on any particular moment was willing and able to step up today.” 

It was, fittingly, one of those games that justifies the new rules – high tempo, full-blooded, played on instinct and ambition.

I think this time of the year I suppose, during group stages and stuff you're thinking tactics, you're thinking the next match.

“Whereas now it's win or bust,” Willie said. “I think that probably suits us because we're a young side, kind of very much play on energy, and maybe play on intuition.

“It is win or bust which simplifies things.” It will be win or bust once more for 60 minutes. But the Premier Intermediate dream could soon become reality.