Ulster Intermediate Football Championship semi-final: Ballinderry Shamrocks (Derry) v Derrylaughan Kevin Barry’s (Tyrone) (Sunday, Pairc Esler, 1pm)
JARLATH Bell knows all about making the most of the football days. As a tight-marking corner-back Bell, now his club’s manager, was Ballinderry’s man of the match in the 2002 All-Ireland final.
A few years later, after a succession of knee injuries, his career was over.
“I was one of the smaller cogs in the big wheel,” he says, looking back on Ballinderry’s remarkable run of success in the early 2000s.
Cookstown joint-manager Jason Quinn doesn’t underestimate the challenge of Four Masters in the Ulster semi-final
“It was tough on my mum and dad. I knew I was self-destructing. And I also knew the next phase of that, if I had carried on, it was not being here. I was in a very dark place...” - the life and times of Caolan Mooney
They were glory days for the Shamrocks. After back-to-back county final losses, the club made the breakthrough in Derry in 2001 and went on to beat Down’s Mayobridge in the Ulster decider and then Cork’s Nemo Rangers to win their one-and-only Andy Merrigan Cup the following year.
“It was a great time,” says Bell.
“From my own point of view it (football) didn’t last as long as I would have liked after ‘02. I did a couple of cruciates and I had to get most of the meniscus removed in my left knee. By 2007 it was all over for me.”
After his third knee surgery the surgeon sat him down and told him the harsh truth: “If you want to be able to walk when you’re 50,” he said.
“You probably need to reconsider your playing career.”
Sadly that was that and, at 26, Bell had to go and find something else to do with his time. He’d left school after fifth year to become a plumber – an occupation that isn’t easy on the knees – and decided to go back into education.
He retrained as a social worker.
“It’s one of those things – unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it,” he says.
“You just have to adapt and move on and I thought: ‘If I’m not playing and training then this is the chance’ so I went back to college’.”
He is approaching that 50-mark now and, thankfully, is still on his feet and managing an intensive support team in Antrim that does invaluable work with families and young people who are on the edge of the care system.
“We work with young people who are going through a difficult time in their lives,” he explains.
“Our guys go in and try and stabilise things.
“No two days are the same. It’s a very satisfying job but, like any job, it’s not without its challenges. You’re dealing with a lot of crisis situations and you have to think on your feet so there is a bit of a crossover with managing a football team.”
SINCE he was forced into retirement as a player he has constantly been involved with his club. He managed at U15, minor and U21 and stepped up to senior level this year.
Ballinderry’s last senior title came in 2013 and, after a restructuring of the Derry championships, the Shamrocks – one of only four clubs from the Oak Leaf county to win the ultimate prize - were earmarked for a drop to intermediate.
“Once it was ratified that we would be senior league and intermediate championship, we just got on with the job,” says Bell.
“We made peace with it very quickly and went about our business.
“People mentioned history and tradition after we went down to intermediate but I don’t think it’s good to keep looking back in the rear-view mirror.
“That’s not going to bring more success to the club so it’s all about looking forward and trying to navigate the road ahead.
“It’s nice to have it banked and it’s nice to look back on it every now and again but there are a lot of young fellas on this current team and that’s what we’re more focussed on at the moment.
“Dropping to intermediate has given us a chance to step back and reset the goals and we’ve had a good run, we’ve had young fellas exposed to really tough contests. We’ve won a lot of tight games and it’s all good exposure for young lads who maybe wouldn’t have got it at senior level.
“At the same time, having gone down from senior there was a level of expectation on our shoulders this year.
“There was a bit of pressure and it probably weighed heavily because some of the performances were a wee bit stuttery. We eventually got over the line but it has been a steep learning curve.”
Davy Harte (nephew of Mickey) has come in as his assistant and Bell says the Tyrone native has been invaluable.
“I didn’t really know Davy until this year,” he says.
“He has a great football mind, he’s very cool, calm and collected and the boys all think the world of him so he’s been a serious help.
A COUNTY title, thanks in part to a slice of luck in the dying seconds of the final against Faughanvale (the referee awarded Ballinderry a dubious free in the final seconds which levelled the game) and then a three-point victory in the replay, saw the Shamrocks return to Ulster football for the first time in a decade.
Beating Armagh’s Carrickcruppen propelled Bell’s men to a last-four clash with Tyrone neighbours Derrylaughan on Sunday.
The Derry champions will be up against it. They are without experienced former Derry forward Ryan Bell (suspended for his red card against Carrickcruppen) and are planning without current Derry star Gareth McKinless.
McKinless was sent off in the Derry final replay against Faughanvale for two yellows but alleged verbals meant the 2023 Allstar was hit with a two-match ban.
Tyrone champions Derrylaughan, who have also had great days at senior level, ended a 14-year wait for a second intermediate title with a two-point victory over Moy last month. Since then the Kevin Barry’s have beaten Donegal’s Termon in Ulster and came through an extraordinary quarter-final against Antrim’s All Saints which finished 6-12 to 3-21.
Neither goalkeeper will look back on the game with particular fondness but, despite conceding six goals, the Tyrone men forced a draw and showed their bottle to win on penalties and Bell – who will certainly look to test his opponents’ defence under the high ball - sees the Kevin Niblock-managed Tyrone champions as firm favourites.
“We’re going in as underdogs so I suppose the pressure is on them,” he said.
“I’ve talked about the shackles being off and us being in bonus territory and I suppose that’s where we are. We know Derrylaughan well, they’re only about eight miles away up the Lough, and they’re a formidable side.
“You think of Brian Kennedy, Tomas Carney, Sean Robinson, Liam Girvan, Danny Ball… We know it’s going to be a tough test and our preparation over the last couple of weeks hasn’t been ideal.
“After the final replay, we got word on the Tuesday that Gareth McKinless had received a suspension. It’s still ongoing but we’re preparing without him. It’s been frustrating for us to watch the process unfold and it’s been very unhelpful and completely avoidable.
“Gareth is one of the reasons why Derry is in the same conversation with Kerry, Dublin and all the top teams. He has made serious sacrifices for Derry football, this time last year he received an Allstar for Derry.
“We still have people working behind the scenes and I hope commonsense and justice prevails but at the minute we’re preparing without him.”
