Mark Dowd is on his hunkers, his left fist clenched and raised in victory. Behind him, perched on a bench in the MacHale Park dressingroom, is a smiling Andy Moran, arms slung across his Ballaghaderreen colleagues. Champions of Mayo.
On Sunday in Castlebar, Roscommon manager Dowd and Mayo boss Moran will be in MacHale Park as opponents – but they once stood together in the Castlebar trenches.
Dowd managed Ballaghaderreen to a Mayo senior football championship in 2012 – the last time the border club has won the Paddy Moclair Cup. And what was only their third ever title.
The victorious photos from that historic triumph demonstrate what the achievement meant to all involved with the club. Recently, there was a reunion of the 2012 crew and Dowd was in attendance as the county final was replayed in Durkin’s bar. Forever linked, now.
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It was something of a one-and-done campaign for Dowd. He delivered silverware and went off to bolster his managerial cv.
His route to becoming Roscommon senior manager is a lesson in patience and the strength of putting together an impressive body of work.
The Strokestown native was part of the Roscommon management team when they famously beat Kerry after a replay to capture the All-Ireland minor title in 2006.
He managed the county to a Connacht under-21 crown in 2015 and was involved in the Roscommon backroom teams when the seniors claimed provincial glory in 2010 and 2019. He has managed at club level in Galway and Roscommon too.
But when he was announced as Roscommon manager last August, few outside of the county were aware of his credentials.
And yet should results go Roscommon’s way on Sunday, Dowd could lead his county to a first Division One National Football League final appearance since 1981.
For a team tipped by many to be relegated this season, Roscommon enter the last round of games sitting in joint third place following wins over Monaghan, Armagh, Galway and Donegal.
As opening stanzas go, it doesn’t make for bad reading.
“Absolutely not surprised at all to see Mark becoming Roscommon manager,” says Stephen Drake, who was the Ballaghaderreen captain in 2012.
“When you go into a dressingroom as a really young manager, as he was in 2012 because he was barely a year or two older than some of the players, and to be able to manage and drive it on from there showed how capable he was.
“Probably the most surprising aspect was that it took so long for him to manage Roscommon. I probably would have expected him to get it a little bit earlier than that, to be honest.”
Dowd is Roscommon’s first home-grown manager since Fergal O’Donnell’s joint role with Kevin McStay ended a decade ago. Not since 2012, under Des Newton, has a local bainisteoir had sole charge of the county’s flagship team.
“He earned the right to be Roscommon manager,” says Willie Hegarty, former Roscommon GAA games manager and respected Shannonside FM Gaelic games commentator.
“When you say Mark Dowd’s name, it mightn’t capture the imagination of the public like a Kieran McGeeney or a Jack O’Connor or whatever, but Mark deserved his chance. When Davy Burke stepped down, Mark was the obvious choice.”
Still, in 2012 when word filtered through to the Ballaghaderreen players that Dowd was to be their manager, it was received mostly with a questionable curiosity. And given Ballaghaderreen’s border politics, the appointment of a Roscommon man as manager was not without its risks.
“When we were told Mark would be coming in, we didn’t know an awful lot about him,” recalls Drake.
“We had no experience or knowledge of what he was about and what he was going to bring to the table. The first time we met him I suppose the thing that struck us was how young Mark was. I would have been one of the older players on our team and we probably had one or two just north of 30 but Mark was around the same age as most of us.
“But we learned fairly quickly what he was about and what we were going to be instilled with that year.”
Drake remembers how Dowd steadied the ship after a rocky start during which they had lost their first three league games. Before the championship opener against Tourmakeady that season, he drilled belief into the players that their 2008 county success had been no fluke.
“I remember vividly the approach Mark took in the week ahead of that game. He brought us back to basics, reminded us in terms of what we had achieved previously and the talent we had.
“I suppose we were suffering with a crisis of confidence as a group really as a result of the years previous to that but in advance of the first round of the championship he did a brilliant job circling the wagons and getting us in the right frame of mind. We won that game and it just really kick-started our season.
“We were struck with the level of maturity he showed in doing that. It was a challenge because we were a seasoned outfit, there were a lot of really big personalities in our dressingroom, lots of lads who had played with Mayo and whatnot. He worked that situation very well.”
Then in August, Moran suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury during Mayo’s All-Ireland SFC quarter-final victory over Down. His loss could easily have derailed Ballaghaderreen’s season.
“I think Mark brought it back to the fact that no one player is more important than the group and the collective,” recalls Drake.
“He was very focused on the collective. I don’t ever remember a year where our numbers were as strong as they were that year – and that was testament to Mark’s ability to bring everyone along with him on the journey, to make everyone feel important and feel valued.”
And that included Moran, who despite being sideline was kept within the team’s inner circle.
“We all know what Andy’s like, there was never going to be a scenario where he wasn’t going to be there,” says Drake.
“As soon as Andy knew his fate and knew what he was facing going forward, he dove himself into it and gave Mark and the team help wherever he could.”
Ultimately, Ballaghaderreen beat three-in-a-row seeking Ballintubber 1-9 to 0-4 to win the Mayo senior football title.
“Mark’s mantra ultimately that year was that we were going to be the hardest-working team in Mayo. He did create an environment where I think we ultimately were probably the hardest-working team in the county.”
Drake has plenty of skin in Sunday’s Division One league clash at MacHale Park – not only is Dowd a former manager but Moran is married to Drake’s sister, Jennifer. And while he would wish Dowd well in any other game, Drake’s allegiances lie with his brother-in-law and native county this weekend.
“I was delighted to see Mark getting this chance, because we probably knew from way out that his big goal was to manage Roscommon. He’s doing a great job and has surrounded himself with good people and coaches.
“Ultimately I’ll always want Mayo to beat Roscommon, and certainly given where I’m from, but it’s always great to see someone you have huge time and admiration for doing well.”
Should he lead Roscommon to a first top-flight league final appearance in 45 years, Dowd’s stock would rise significantly.
“We’ve only been in three National Football League Division One finals ever,” says Hegarty.
“So, it would absolutely be huge to get there again. I actually think it would be good for this Roscommon team to get to a league final but if it doesn’t happen it has still been a very positive campaign. Roscommon have been one of the stories of the league.”
