You can't beat “The Big Mo”

Sometimes, it feels like I'm living through some sort of sci-fi temporal disturbance, a time loop that leaves you feeling as if you reliving the same moment time after time. Or, if you will, a sporting version of the movie Groundhog Day!

Four games over the weekend in Carrick, three in Pairc Sean and one next door in Pairc Naomh Mhuire and it seemed as if I was bumping into the same regulars, be they officials, referees, supporters or media, time and time again in a never ending loop, prompting me to wonder to myself 'have we no homes to go to?'

It is the sort of helter-skelter schedule that many are facing right now as we come to the business end of championships with supporters dashing from venue to venue, taking in adult semi-finals or relegation battles, juvenile games of immense importance, both male and female, as the season is starting to draw to a close.

We're all champions of the world

THE LAST POINT

On foot of last week's column on America's NFL, I didn't expect to get a picture on Sunday evening all the way from the US of four Leitrim lads enjoying the action Pittsburgh's Acrisure Stadium last Sunday. Making me very envious, Gerry Gallagher from Aughawillan, Tom McCaffrey from Ballinamore, Austin Harkin from Drumkeerin and Sean McCaffrey from Chicago were cheering on the 49ers and they had a lot to cheer about as San Francisco demolished the Steelers 30-7

But it was actually the four games I attended that had my head in a spin as I couldn't shake the dreaded feeling of deja vu. Those four games were Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins’ victory over Glencar Manorhamilton in the Senior Men's quarter-final, Annaduff's extra time win over Ballinaglera in the Intermediate grade, St Mary's edging out Ballinamore ladies in the senior grade and a fascinating U13 Division 1 Final on Monday evening where, in the bitter cold, St Mary's claimed yet another juvenile crown at the expense of a heartbroken Rinn Gaels.

On the face of it, none of those games have much in common but I couldn't shake the notion that even with winning margins ranging between four and nine points, all those contests came down to one or two split seconds - a spectacular catch here, a disastrous slip there or a moment of inspiration  that transformed a team heading for disappointment into winners.

The Yanks have termed it “The Big Mo” or the momentum if you want to be precise, the concept that  behavioural momentum appears to have an effect on a team's performance. It is a notion that has spread to politics  with prospective candidates talking about picking up steam, building momentum, gathering pace on the road to inevitable victory.

“The Big Mo” is  more easily distinguishable in sport, turning incredibly fit and motivated athletes into floundering and seemingly out of shape nobodies in the blink of an eye - anybody who was in Pairc Sean  on  Saturday or Sunday saw two momentum shifts of epic proportions when Darren Cox diverted a high free to the Ballinaglera net for Annaduff and Dean McGovern rose into the skies almost Aussie Rules style to claim a mark that led to Ballinamore's second goal.

Momentum is funny that way - up until McGovern's catch that left Glencar Manor wide open down the centre, Shane Moran charging through that very same space to find Niall McGovern, you'd have said the north Leitrim men had delivered the perfect underdogs game plan - frustrating the favourites, hitting quickly and effectively on the break and frustrating Ballinamore.

That O'Heslins wasted four goal chances in the first half comes into it  only so far as Manor's gameplan was frustrating Ballinamore and  that frustration was building on itself. But once Dean sailed into the air and the ball eventually ended up in the net, you could visibly see Ballinamore's players growing in confidence as that of the  Glencar Manor players shrunk.

Annaduff's extra time victory came thanks to a split second when Darren Cox diverted an off-target free to the net! That it  came from a free that also saw Ballinaglera lose a man to a  second yellow card is  the very definition of a momentum shift and Annaduff took full advantage -  cruel on Ballinaglera but “The Big Mo” literally turns games on its head.

The Big Mo was there  in Sunday morning's Ladies Senior clash between St Mary's &  Ballinamore in Pairc Naomh Mhuire. In all honesty, Ballinamore were in a different class for 45 minutes but just could not pull away from a stubborn if under-performing St Mary's. If it was a boxing match, it might have been stopped as O'Heslins looked so far ahead!

But that's where momentum comes in - sometimes you engineer it, sometimes it falls right in your lap like when a keeper is urged to let what looks like a harmless ball go wide only for a  calamitous outcome when the ball somehow ends up sneaking into the net as happened unfortunate keeper Leighanne Flynn.

Of all the positions, the number one is the one most subject to calls of fortune but for Flynn, it was a doubly devastating day as later on, another low harmless looking shot hit the players, spun wickedly just as the Ballinamore keeper slipped, the ball almost apologetically spinning across the line,  and suddenly from a position of strength, Ballinamore are six down and St Mary's are rolling like an unstoppable tidal wave.

Looking for lessons from America's NFL

THE LAST POINT

You understand more easily how momentum affects young players as it most certainly did in Monday's U13 Division 1 Final - Rinn Gaels looked the stronger team but couldn't shake off St Mary's and when Harry Hanrahan found the net four minutes from the end, the town team took off like scalded cats to run out six point winners, a scoreline that doesn't reflect just how close a very entertaining contest truly was.

It is a reminder that for all the coaching, all the best laid plans, sometimes momentum can change with one decision, one error or one instance of genius. There are entire psychological theories out there dedicated to generating momentum, to putting yourself on the front foot but sometimes, it seems as if the Gods decide.

If those four games illuminated anything, they demonstrated that belief is more often driven by actions first and foremost but when action drives belief, it seems like an unstoppable force. Something to ponder in the coming weeks I think!