Scoreless Gallagher delighted to take it on the chin for flying Ballinagar

Pictured above: Robbie Gallagher with family members after Ballinagar's Leinster JFC final win. Left to right, Paurig Gallagher (father), Ritchie Brennan (Geraldine's brother in law), Robbie Gallagher, Dick Mee (grandfather and an All-Ireland SFC medal winner with Meath in 1954), Geraldine Gallagher (mother), Tara Brennan (cousin) and Clodgh Gallagher (sister).

ON a day when the game did not flow as smoothly as usual for him, when he was tightly marked and a more peripheral figure than the last half dozen of games, Robbie Gallagher still played a very significant part in Ballinagar's great 2-9 to 0-8 win over Meath champions Dunsany in the Leinster Club Junior Football Championship final at Navan on Sunday.

Asked afterwards if it was his first championship game not to score in this year, Gallagher grimaced before breaking out into a broad grin and confirming that it was. He has been Ballinagar's star forward this year, coming up with a frequent supply of crucial scores in most games.

A starter on the Offaly U-20 football team throughout a long campaign, Gallagher scored seven points from play and was man of the match in the Leinster club quarter-final over Louth's Wolfe Tones. In the semi-final against Ellistown, his haul was three points, two of them from marks, but in a ferociously tight game that Ballinagar just barely squeezed home in, that contribution was powerfully significant.

He has ran defences ragged throughout the year and has matched this with a great work rate and ability to win bad as well as good ball. Gallagher has brought his football to a new level in the Leinster club campaign and the most significant improvement has been in his conversion rate. In some of the games in the Offaly Intermediate Football Championship, his points tally was occasionally matched if not exceeded by his wides – he scored 1-3 in the intermediate final win over Raheen and was brilliant, very close to man of the match, but had Ballinagar came out the wrong side of the result, his misses would have came in for much more analysis.

In Leinster, however, the balance has been very much on the positive side as he has been scoring the vast majority of his chances. A promising young player who is a work in progress, he has clearly practised hard on this and one of his great strengths is that a miss doesn't damage his confidence, that he will keep showing for the next ball, trying to get the shot off in the full expectation that it will float delightfully over the bar.

Wolfe Tones failed miserably in one of the tasks they had to achieve, to limit Gallagher's influence and they paid full penalty in a game that went all the way to extra time. Dunsany were very much aware of Gallagher's threat and they succeeded more than any other side this year with curbing his scoring influence but he still made a big contribution to Ballinagar's memorable win.

With his marker very tight on him and an extra defender sitting in front of him, Gallagher continued to work hard, to win ball, set up scores or chances while he drifted down field late on to come out with important possession. At times, the most he could contribute was to move out of full forward to the wings and with his two men following him, this created space that helped allow Geordi O'Meara and Steven Dwane race in for excellent and match winning first half goals as Ballinagar stormed into a 2-6 to 0-1 lead after 22 minutes.

At the start of the year, Gallagher never envisaged that he and the Ballinagar players would have to curtail their festive celebrations for an early January All-Ireland semi-final against An Ceathra Rua of Galway.

“No, definitely not. Especially when we were midway through the Offaly championship after losing to Croghan and Tullamore. We regrouped, we got together and said we have a real good chance of going far in this championship. We recovered well and got the few wins on board. Ever since then, we have been just growing in confidence game on game.

“From the quarter-final against Kilcormac, it was all about getting the result and knowing that we were able to grind out results, even if we weren't playing the best. Game by game, we just grew in confidence and are really relishing it now in Leinster. It is total football now, that is what we are best at. This time of year suits us as well, we are so fit and so young. Playing in these county grounds, big spacious pitches, it is just brilliant as well.

“It is an opportunity for some lads who would never have got on this scene. Some lads would never have even played in a Leinster championship match, never mind going on and winning a Leinster championship. It is unbelievable. Honestly, I wouldn't have been able to dream about it at the start of the year.”

The Offaly intermediate final win over Raheen lifted all pressure off Ballinagar's young shoulders and they have been playing with a more expressive sense of freedom in their Leinster club adventure.

Gallagher concurred:

“I think so. We enjoyed the county title and the celebrations after that but we regrouped and we said, we can give this a real shot. We are a team that suits this kind of Winter football. We said if we could get the first win against Carlow, that is always the toughest one, the very first game. Once you get over the line from there, then you have the confidence to go on. It was about winning that game against Ballon and once we won that, we knew we were able to compete at this level. Since then, against Wolfe Tones, we grinded it out after extra time. We probably didn't play the best game collectively that day but we still got the win.

“Ellistown were a good side, probably came in a bit as favourites and we did well there too. I think we were a good bit stronger today than Dunsany.”

He was honest about his own contribution in Navan and if anything, he verged into being hard on himself:

“Some of us didn't step up but other lads stepped up and that is the great thing, we have depth and stuff and we are able to afford some lads not having the best game.

“Other lads always step up. It is something we haven't had, that squad depth. We brought on three or four lads today. At the start of the championship, we were struggling. We were trying to keep lads on when they were carrying niggles and stuff. We had Eoin McGuinness, Jacob (Beatty), Jamie (Ballesty) who all came on today and they made big differences which is great. Especially at this time of year when the ground is heavy. To think we are one win away from Croke Park is unbelievable.”

With a 2-6 to 0-1 lead, Ballinagar would have had to collapse to lose against Dunsany but they did lose their way for a brief spell. A bit of complacency crept in and mistakes were made as the Meath side got three points to trail by 2-6 to 0-4 at half time and give themselves at least some sort of a chance in the second half.

Again Gallagher agreed:

“Yes, I think when we got that good bit ahead, we took our foot off the pedal a little bit. We got a bit sloppy and let them back into the game but we knew they were going to come out at us. We knew they came back from a few points down against Kilcavan so we regrouped at half time. We knew, we weren't going to be as free scoring in the second half. It was all about holding onto that lead and maybe going score for score with them instead of keeping pushing on because we knew they were going to come at us. I think we did well, kept a clean sheet which is really good.”

Ballinagar's defence has been sensational this year. In their 2-8 to 1-8 intermediate final win over Raheen, they conceded only one point from play. The flying forward was quick to pay tribute to them:

“I think our defence is our strongest point. We get bodies back and we flood them out. Except for maybe one or two moments, I never really feared we would concede a goal. We knew that Dunsany would have to go in search of goals and we kept it really tight in that second half. It was massive.”

He was asked about what goes through his mind on a day when he wasn't on the usual volume of ball and Dunsany worked so hard to ensure he couldn't get shots away.

“They were good. Your man who was on me was very strong physically as well. He was good and they kind of had a sweeper on me for most of the game.

“I knew I was going to get it tough today and ah look, I was a bit sloppy at times as well. At the same time, it was all about getting the result today. I couldn't care less if I was taken off after ten minutes today, it was all about the result. They had that sweeper and he was really in front of me so I kind of went out to the sideline in the first half and that is where we got the two goals from. Sometimes, you have to make those sacrifices.”

With his proud grandfather Trim man, Dick Mee, an All-Ireland senior football medal recipient with Meath in 1954, watching on, winning was all that mattered and he didn't care if he never felt the weight of the ball.

“It was all about just stopping their momentum. It wasn't about me getting scores on the board at that stage, it was all about the team. The team is the main thing, if it was all about me getting scores, we wouldn't be winning titles. That is what I mean, the other lads stepped up today. Geordi (O'Meara) and Morgan (Tynan), Conor McGuinness as well, Stevie (Dwane), they all stepped up huge. That is the great thing about this team, it is the depth and quality of players. I feel like some people think we don't have that but we do. We have strong players all over the field.”