There'll be no one happier than Moran

Although he's out of Sunday's final with a cruciate injury, Balla man Andy Moran has no intention of feeling sorry for himself, writes SEAN MORAN

A FEW miles into Roscommon on the Charlestown road and nestled up on the Sligo border, Ballaghaderreen is probably Gaelic games’ most famous frontier town. As most people know it’s within Roscommon for local administrative purposes but in the eyes of the GAA, it’s a red-and-green enclave, its county allegiance to Mayo.

Ironically for such a protectorate it has assumed a leading role in many of Mayo’s All-Ireland escapades. Most obviously it was here 61 and 60 years ago that the Sam Maguire stopped on the way home after the county’s most recent All-Ireland successes.

The captain of the team the late Seán Flanagan was from the town and practised there as a solicitor before becoming a Fianna Fáil TD and minister during his political career.

When Mayo next reached the final 38 years later the manager was John O’Mahony, himself now a TD, and Flanagan’s son Dermot and Noel Durkan were representing the Ballaghaderreen interest. In 1996 and ’97, Flanagan was still there, joined in the full-back line by club mate Kevin Cahill.

The crushing defeats by Kerry in 2004 and ’06 are even more easily forgotten in the town than elsewhere in the county, as no one from the club made the starting 15 but in a way the cruellest cut of all took place last month.

With Mayo once again on the move, Ballaghaderreen was looking forward to maybe a reliving of 1951. Home town player Andy Moran, the team’s captain and only current All Star, injured his cruciate in the quarter-final win over Down and more or less immediately knew that he would not be refreshing the grainy delirium of six decades previously with up-to-date digital imagery.

“The excitement in Balla has been a bit subdued because of what’s happened to him,” says O’Mahony, who has known Moran since his Bórd na nÓg days and managed the local St Nathy’s College team that won the All-Ireland senior B title in 2000, defeating St Augustine’s, Dungarvan in the final in Portlaoise.

“Andy’s a local hero in the town. That All-Ireland meant a lot because the school hadn’t won one since the Hogan Cup in 1957. He missed a penalty in the first half but had the composure to take another one in the second half and score that, which turned out to be critical because we only won by two.

“He’s a very bubbly character but this will test him. He’s been very involved in the build-up with the media and everything and working with the players but it’s going to hit him big on Sunday.”

Moran agrees that the build-up in the town is a bit more low-key this time around and accepts that his misfortune has something to do with the mood.

“I think so. Not being smart or anything, they’re probably feeling a bit sorry for me. To be honest, I think they’re being a bit respectful to me – but I want them to get out their flags. I want them to really lift it now in the next couple of days.

“But there’s a big, big tradition around the place, and it’s a great town. There’s always a bit of drama in Ballaghaderreen! Seán Flanagan was the last man to lift it, and at the time he was a Ballaghaderreen man, so if I can be anyway part of following his tradition, I’d be very happy.”

He was under no illusions about the injury and amidst the fuss on that bank holiday August afternoon understood that he was in trouble.

“Ah, I knew. Going around on the buggy, I was thinking to myself, I’ve always preached that I think we can win the All-Ireland and I knew that that could be the case. And now we’re approaching an All-Ireland final and I’m not there, I knew it straight away, to be honest.

“It’s a tough station for me on a personal level. Michael Rice (Kilkenny hurler) was there (in the hurling final). I saw him and I knew he was hurting, but he’s probably had a few more opportunities than what I’ve had to play in them. But if we win on Sunday, I’ll be the happiest man in the country, no doubt about it.

“I think the hurting was before it (the semi-final). I had a few dark nights where I was feeling sorry for myself, but you’ve to look at it that there’s a lot of people worse off than me, and you just have to get on with it.

“The fact that the team still needs you and James still wants you around the place is a great positive for me, and it helped me get over it. Listen, we’ve an All-Ireland to prepare for; I was at training . . . and I’ll be there again on Friday night, and I think I’m one of the lucky ones, more so than anything.”

For someone who had experienced so little injury in his career in the past five years, the last 12 months have been soul-destroying. A year ago he was poised to join the international rules panel travelling to Australia but broke his leg at training.

After a dedicated rehabilitation, he was back for Mayo and picking up where he had left off with the form of last year, proving once more the county’s most important player. His ability to organise the attack, win ball of varying quality and link the play has been important to the team.

But when James Horan took over as manager two years ago, Moran was far from confident about his intercounty future after a disastrous championship for the county in 2010 had ended in ignominy at the hands of Longford.

“I’d have had no qualms in any way at all . . . I probably thought I had a decent year bar the Longford game, if you bring the league and the Sligo game into it. But I’d have had no issues at all if James didn’t pick me for the 2011 season. If he came in and said he wanted to clear all the old fellas, I’d have said fair enough to him and away with you and best of luck with it.

“But fortunately in October I got the call to come back in, and it was probably the best phone call of my career and I’m happy to be still here.”