Championship Victory Over The Rynagh’s Creates a Stir in Co. Offaly
By Gerry McCarthy
All good things come to an end, as the footballers of Ferbane found out on Sunday last in O’Connor Park. The Lowrys and Co. were on course for a sixth successive Offaly senior title, but they found Gracefield too hot to handle in a semi-final that was voted an excellent advertisement for this code. So Ferbane bowed out and Offaly’s representatives in Leinster will be Gracefield or Clara, who meet on Sunday week.
Offaly hurling circles also produced a significant result. A semi-final of the minor ‘A’ championship paired much-titled St. Rynagh’s with Ballyskenach. When the final whistle sounded, the scoreboard revealed a 3-5 to 1-7 victory for Ballyskenach, and not even the oldest supporter of the winners could recall his club ever previously beating The Rynaghs in any grade of championship competition. As a result, joy was, understandably, unconfined.
Ballyskenach won the ‘B’ title last year and, because of limited resources it seems that club officials were not keen to test their mettle at ‘A’ level. The players, to their credit, insisted that the bullet be bitten and now they are only 60 minutes removed from an historic first in the ‘A’ championship.
Ferbane/Belmont provide the final opposition and it will be a notable achievement should Ballyskenach triump, because this corner of Offaly finds it very hard to field a minor team, never mind produce the required complement of substitutes.
(Evening Press 26/9/91)