Home comforts won't win title for Ballinamore says Wayne McKeon

Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins stand just one step away from the pinnacle of Leitrim football for the first time since 2021 after an injury time point from Tom Prior put them past St Mary's Kiltoghert in the semi-final.

Ballinamore will have the rare experience of home advantage for their Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC final clash against Mohill as Pairc Sheain Ui Eslin hosts the fixture for the first time since the 1960s as the pitch at Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada is relaid.
But for long serving captain Wayne McKeon, the benefits of home advantage, while great, aren’t worth that much in the final.

“It's not really an advantage to us ... it is to a certain degree, but it's not going to win matches for us, you know. It's just going to be down to the work rate and the hard work that we're going to have to put into it for 60-70 minutes.”

Despite the modest comfort of home advantage, Wayne is under no illusions about the challenge that is ahead of his team as they attempt to dethrone reigning champions Mohill - “You're never in comfort when you're playing Mohill, you know. They're unreal to play against. They make the field very big. Big, strong, athletic men … they've been the kingpins of Leitrim for the last couple of years.”

So since the semi-final, the emphasis has been on preparing to meet the Mohill challenge head one: “We'll go back to training on Tuesday and we'll see what they are about. And we'll have to set up our own system to try and stop them.”

Stopping the flying Mohill attack will be key to a Ballinamore win next weekend, says McKeon, “Jordan Reynolds and, of course, Keith Beirne, probably the best forward in the county in the last couple of years. So, we'll have to set up a system that's going to sort him out … if we can tidy all these things up, same as a couple of years ago, hopefully we'll come out the right side of Mohill.”

For all that caution, Wayne is confident Ballinamore have the firepower on the other end of the field to get the job done against the champions: “We have good forwards, you know, with Tom Prior and young Paul Honeyman there. They're unreal.”

Neither does Wayne feel that nerves be an issue on the day, even if it Ballinamore's first final appearance since 2021: “There's a great bunch of young lads there and they don't have nerves, you know. So, we'll stick to our system and stick to our play.

“Fair enough, there's a cup there at the end of it, but we're not going to treat it any differently. It's another game. No nerves, no nothing. We're just going to have to do our homework on them in the next two weeks and, hopefully, as I said, lift the trophy up”.