It’s just over a decade since Ballinderry contested an All-Ireland Club senior semi-final with an All-Star, Enda Muldoon, and a former county captain, Kevin McGuckin, in their line-up.
Conleith Gilligan, not long retired from county football, lined out too, while Ryan Bell, a starter with Derry at the time, was up front with him.
A teenage Gareth McKinless, who would go on to win an All-Star himself with Derry in 2023 was also involved.
That star-studded group, fresh off a Derry three-in-a-row, lost to St Vincent’s of Dublin, haven’t won a senior championship since and when they did return to an All-Ireland semi-final last weekend, it was at the intermediate grade.
They beat Austin Stacks of Kerry so will play Crossmolina of Mayo, another fallen giant of sorts, in this Sunday’s intermediate final at Croke Park.
McKinless is captain of the team these days and is happy to reminisce because it brings him to an important point about this team and that three-in-a-row side of 2013.
“I’ve told the lads, 11 years ago I played in a Ballinderry team that had more star-studded players than we were actually a team, if that makes sense,” said McKinless.
“And that’s no disrespect, we just had so many good players. But I said it to the lads, I felt the current team were just more collective as a group and had more team players.
“For example, we had a fella who came on against Austin Stacks, Jack Bell, you mightn’t know him because he hasn’t got a minute all year, but he came on in an All-Ireland semi-final and played like he’s been there all year.
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“That was actually probably one of the proudest things for me about that win, seeing him come on and play like that.“
It was a brief stint at the intermediate grade in the end for Ballinderry who spent just a season there.
“We had a great time in the noughties, won a lot of championships, probably should have won more,” said the centre-back.
“The same as anything, sometimes you just take the foot off the gas. We didn’t have the same quality of players coming through as well and that’s down to a number of things in terms of within the club.”
“In the last three or four years, especially last year and this year, we’ve started to get things right, we’ve got a brand new functioning gym, the boys are all in there. S&C is a big thing now.“
“The biggest thing probably is the younger lads have come through. We got seven last year, we got a few more this year and we’ve got another few more coming next year. So we’re starting to produce more quality players and then obviously with that the standard goes up.
“Because obviously the standard had dropped significantly for a period of years but we’re just glad to be back now and to be pushing hard. At the end of the day, these boys are all part of a senior team. We class ourselves as a senior team.
“But look, sometimes you have to look at yourself in the mirror, we just weren’t performing as a senior team should be and hence why we’re in intermediate.
“To be fair to the Derry intermediate championship, we had some very close games throughout that.
“The coaching that has been going on within that championship has pushed us to the pin of our collars. And that’s probably been a good thing for us because it’s making us a better team.‘’
When Ballinderry won their All-Ireland senior title in 2002, they succeeded Crossmolina as champions. The Mayo side lost their senior status in 2018 and spent six seasons in the intermediate championship before finally returning to the top flight this year, thanks in part to the impact of a talented group of U21s.
It’s been a similar story for Ballinderry, who have been boosted by a sprinkling of novice talent.
The message that McKinless has been giving them is that they must seize the moment this Sunday because it could be decades again before they’re back.
‘‘For those younger lads who mightn’t get another chance to play at Croke Park, even just to be in the changing rooms and everything else, it’s going to be a great day out for them and a massive opportunity,” said McKinless.
Ballinderry came good with a strong second-half performance to see off Austin Stacks on a tight pitch at Parnell Park last weekend. Nearby Croke Park is significantly bigger, but McKinless isn’t concerned.
‘‘It goes back to what I said about us being a team, we’re quite adaptable,” he said.
“We can play both sides of the pitch, we can press high, we can press low, we can kick it, we can run it. Look, we’ll just play it as we see it.
‘‘Crossmolina have Conor Loftus, Jordan Flynn, huge county players, so it’s going to be a massive test but our boys just love the test and the challenge.”
