Mayo Under-21 'B' Championship Final Preview (1997)

Ballintubber to spoil Lahardane's celebration plans

One is playing with a loaded gun in attempting to establish a justifiable reason for nominating one or other of the finalists to win next Saturday's county under-21 'B' decider at Kiltimagh, played as a curtain raiser to the 'A' showdown.

Both Lahardane and Ballintubber were taken to extra time in their semi-finals by Belmullet and Kiltimagh before booking places in Saturday's showdown, and both displayed remarkable fitness levels to survive by two and three points respectively.

The Ballintubber team will feature a number of St. Gerald's College players who took part in last Sunday's final at Croke Park, and they include John Feeney, Tomas Earley and Colm Staunton, while the Lahardane team will have St. Gerald's Adrian Marley holding down a defensive berth.

The Nephinsiders will also have the assistance of county minor Anthony McDermott in addition to '96 county minors Declan Leonard and Vinnie Cawley.

One of the big guns in the Ballintubber attack is Lyden Reilly, a county under-21 panelist and one of the leading marksmen in last years Connacht minor football championship.

The West Mayo side will also have strong performers in Kieran Lally, Alan Staunton, Pat Gallagher, Derek Quinn and Brian Donnelly.

Lahardane, prominent at under-age level for the past few years, will be looking to players such as Declan Leonard, James Gillespie, Vinnie Cawley, Damien Kelly, Shane Blake, Anthony McDermott, John Rowland and Adrian Marley to see them celebrate a great victory.

While I must admit that I admired Lahardane's battling qualities against Belmullet at different stages of the ninety minutes thriller, Ballintubber look to be a better balanced side and earn my vote to capture the title.