BALLYHEGAN SECURE TOP FLIGHT RETURN
Richard Bullick
Ballyhegan will be back in the top flight of the McGuinness Plumbing League next season after Lurgan club Clan na Gael saw their hopes of silverware dashed for a second consecutive Sunday.
Defeated by Derrynoose in the Buttercrane Intermediate Championship showpiece seven days earlier after relinquishing a healthy lead, Clan na Gael travelled to Ballyhegan needing to win to keep their Division Two title hopes alive but were beaten 1-12 to 0-7.
This is the second time in five seasons that Ballyhegan have won Division Two and this time they will take the place of proud neighbours Grange, who have finally lost their first division status after a long stay.
The silver lining for Grange is that league relegation should help their case for regrading to the Intermediate tier next season and with that a realistic chance to claim Championship silverware for the first time since 2013.
Before completing the domestic double by winning the Buttercrane Senior Championship, Clann Eireann had already wrapped up another league title with a 100 percent record, though they only played six matches.
The other four fixtures were forfeited by their opponents and that contributed to an exceptionally patchy programme whereby Clann Eireann played three league games in a 10-day period in April and only three more the rest of the season!
Two of the others took place in May followed by a gap of 67 days until their remaining match at the start of August, as Greg McGonigle’s women went through the entire months of June and July without playing a single game.
That fixture famine was partly a result of opponents not fielding, but a broader analysis suggests that there was a prolonged relatively barren period in the summer after a flurry of activity early in the season.
Of what should have been 40 Division One matches this season, 10 took place in April and the same number in May with just four in June, three each in July and August, one in September and one so far this month, with one more yet to take place at time of writing.
The other seven resulted in walkovers, which is far from ideal especially considering how few matches teams have and how much scope there is in the schedule to rearrange games, so perhaps Armagh LGFA should consider docking points for not fulfilling fixtures.
Some clubs can struggle for numbers but at present there is no sanction for not fielding and that may have contributed to there also being six walkovers in Division Two, three in the third division and four of just 21 scheduled matches in the basement section not taking place.
A ‘Club Coaches Forum’ was held in Mullabrack earlier this month and it must be hoped that there was in-depth discussion about the adult leagues in terms of format, fixtures and forfeits among other things.
The present configuration of four divisions with eight teams each feels like a reasonable structure to continue with, albeit Division Four ended up with just six sides this year after Keady and Killeavy Seconds both folded as the season started.
However, the mid-season split of each division into two sections of four on a top half and bottom half basis perhaps should be revisited so that teams have 14 league games each rather than the present 10.
As things stand, there arguably aren’t enough fixtures for a season that runs for at least six months from the beginning of April, albeit that assertion is somewhat contradicted at face value by the number of league games still outstanding deep into October.
Three-in-a-row camogie county champions Granemore may be regarded as a slightly special case as a dual club but, having played four league games in 25 days at the start of the season, they then went an astonishing 134 days between their fifth fixture and their sixth!
Granemore gave the opposition the points for three other league games and, at time of writing, still had an outstanding fixture to fulfil against relegation rivals Mullaghbawn to see who goes down to Division Three!
At the other end of the table, there had been a protracted three-way fight for the title and accompanying promotion to the top flight until a 4-7 to 0-10 loss for Armagh Harps at Ballyhegan last month ended their hopes of bouncing back from relegation last season.
Mullabrack and St Peter’s of Lurgan had comfortable mid-table finishes even though the latter shipped an astonishing 81-point pasting at home to third division Derrynoose in the Intermediate Championship quarter-finals!
Tir na nOg kept out of relegation trouble too though once again failed to translate their lofty league status into a Junior Championship challenge, leaving Mullaghbawn and last season’s Intermediate title winners Granemore to scrap it out at the bottom.
The place of whoever is relegated will be taken by newly-crowned Intermediate champions Derrynoose, who have subsequently completed their league campaign with a 100 percent record by beating nearest challengers Pearse Og.
That match finished 2-14 to 2-10 but, having just come up from Division Four last season, Pearse Og should be well content with runners-up place in the third division to go with their historic Junior Championship success and the prospect of a provincial campaign to come.
Last year’s Armagh Junior champions Clonmore came third, not helped by having to do without county football star Sarah Quigley and Orchard camog Niamh Forker for some league games, and they gave Clann Eireann Seconds the points for their final fixture.
That enabled last month’s beaten Junior Championship finalists to end up in mid-table as one of three teams with five wins, though the draw between Clonmore and Lurgan’s St Paul’s saw them finish a point ahead of Clann Eireann Seconds.
Eire Og got four victories, while there were three for Cullyhanna – hit badly by the loss of star player Frances Keenan – two of them against Lissummon who struggled throughout but set a great example by bravely fronting up for all 10 scheduled league games.
The most exciting conclusion to a title race in all four divisions of the McGuinness Plumbing League happened in the basement section, as everything came down to a winner-take-all October showdown between Craigavon neighbours.
The title decider took place on a Wednesday night under the floodlights at St Paul’s in Lurgan, with Sarsfields taking the title by defeating Wolfe Tones from Derrymacash on a 4-8 to 3-8 scoreline in a game the two teams went into level on points.
The victory avenged the only defeat Sarsfields suffered during the campaign, by a single-point just after Easter away to Wolfe Tones, who lost on the road the following month against Whitecross.
Whitecross came third ahead of a Clady team who couldn’t kick on from their promising first season in 2023, while two of Middletown’s three wins were against pointless table-proppers Corrinshego of Newry, who forfeited another two of their seven fixtures.
In contrast to the basement section, the outcome of Division One was never in doubt as Clann Eireann coasted to another title triumph despite having such a large county contingent who weren’t always available for league games.
That was compounded by several stalwarts retiring since last season but boss McGonigle was able to turn to some of the emerging talent which has brought the club such underage success over recent years.
Then aged just 14, European age group boxing champion Cassie Henderson made her adult debut in the opening league game against traditional rivals Carrickcruppen, which resulted in a 22-point away win for Clann Eireann.
Crossmaglen won five of their first six league games in April and May, the only blemish being a two-point reversal at Shane O’Neills, but losing star player Lauren McConville to the AFLW was a big blow and their season petered out.
They pipped Shanes to runners-up place in Division One on points difference but hopes of a first county final appearance since 2007 were dashed by an uncomfortably comprehensive home defeat against Cruppen in the semis.
League placings were again used to seed club championship draws, with for example the top four sides in Division One at the time of the split, being given byes through to the Senior quarter-finals.
Clann Eireann, Derrynoose and Pearse Og secured the coveted Championship silverware while the Shield winners were Dromintee, Mullaghbawn and St Paul’s, who beat Ballyhegan, St Peter’s and Sarsfields in the respective finals.
All of the winners will be recognised at Armagh LGFA’s annual awards night on November, when the Golden Boot winners for each tier of the Buttercrane Championships will also be unveiled. Olympic heptathlete Kate O’Connor will be the special guest speaker.
