Skellig rocks as neighbours land a glorious double

Emmet Riordantalks to a central player in his club's All-Ireland junior final victory. Neighbours and rivals St Michaels took the intermediate title

THE BEAUTIFUL Iveragh peninsula in south Kerry is a quiet spot at the best of times. Last Saturday night it was almost silent, with most of the residents having decamped to Dublin on the well-worn trail of glory at Croke Park.

One parish, two clubs and both the All-Ireland intermediate and junior football titles won in the space of 120 minutes sums up the very ethos of a competition that beats at the heart of the GAA.

St Michael’s Foilmore beat their namesakes from Galway in the intermediate decider, while Skellig Rangers ended the dream run of Liverpool side John Mitchel’s, taking the junior crown.

It’s an incredible achievement considering the proximity of the two clubs, and the rivalry that comes when trying to attract players.

“There are three areas in our parish: Portmagee, The Glen and Ballinskelligs,” explains Skelligs defender Kevin Martin, a teacher at St Patrick’s Community College in Naas.

“Skellig Rangers would be made up of people from Portmagee and half of The Glen, while St Michael’s would be made up of people from Ballinskelligs and the other half of The Glen. Foilmore is a second club and they joined up with St Michael’s.

“So there would be a divide there around The Glen and there would be rivalry between us, but it would be a healthy rivalry, really.

“Obviously they are a level above us at intermediate but we’ve played against each other in the South Kerry Championships and together representing South Kerry,” adds Martin.

Families are at the heart of both clubs, with Skelligs including five sets of brothers in their panel for the final. Martin’s brother Colm played, while there were three sets of O’Sullivan brothers and two O’Driscolls.

Martin points to the closeness of the group of players growing up together through the ranks as a key to their success.

“There was six or seven us that came through from the one age group. We all went to primary and secondary school together and have been playing from under-12s all the way through,” says Martin.

A South Kerry Championship title in 2006 seemed to herald the start of good times for Skelligs, but a couple of lean years led to a reassessment of their goals last season.

After taking the Kerry junior title, they progressed past Waterford’s Ballyduff Upper before claiming the Munster crown with a victory over Limerick side Bruff.

They came up against Monaghan opposition in the All-Ireland semi-final, setting up their Croke Park date with a win over Drumhowan.

Although their final opposition were somewhat of an unknown package, their successes over strong Meath and Mayo sides made sure Skelligs were taking nothing for granted against the British champions.

“The worst thing we could have dome was underestimate them because they were from Liverpool,” says Martin. “But we didn’t do that, we had seen a DVD of their semi-final and we’d spoken to people who’d played against them in their run-in. We knew that they would be a tough team and they were probably the fittest and most physical team we played this year,” he adds.

Their homework proved to be well worth the effort, as after taking an early four-point lead in the final, Skelligs saw off a comeback by John Mitchels and the sending off of Séamus O’Sullivan to take their first All-Ireland title by a single point.

“We got a good start, but they got their game together and stopped us from playing the football we were playing in the first 15 minutes,” says Martin.

“They levelled with 10 minutes left, but then we went two points up. Then they got a point with two minutes left and we had a man sent off and were under a bit of pressure. But thankfully we held out in the end, it was a brilliant feeling, all right,” he adds.

Celebrations in Dublin were followed by a fine homecoming on Sunday night and a joint reception for both sides on Monday. Martin had to leave the party early as he and team-mate Brian Hickey headed off to join friends on a skiing trip to France.

“A lot of people think we’re mad going away with all the celebrations going on. We would have been spending our days in the pub if we stayed around and I didn’t want to do that for my mid-term.”

With an Intermediate campaign to prepare for next season, Martin believes the present economic downturn is the one cloud hanging over clubs such as Skellig Rangers and neighbours St Michael’s.

“Our big thing is trying to keep people with the lack of jobs in the area. We have a lot of people involved in the construction industry. Some of them are out of work at the moment and we’re trying to hold onto them. It’s affecting a lot of clubs,” Martin confesses.