Heffernan Park was throbbing. The First XV were within minutes of being crowned AIL champions and the huge crowd were loving every minute of it. Then, in the middle-distance, the sound of blaring car horns grew ever louder and up Creggs Road came a cavalcade of emotion.
The U18 Girls had won the Connacht Plate final in Westport and were bringing home the silverware in a Tsunami of pure joy. Jerseys swung in the air as the caravan of celebration came into view and Heffernan Park erupted.
That moment brilliantly illustrated the progress being made in the famous club on the Moy – seniors stepping into a new history and a progressive Girls section bringing home provincial honours. It doesn’t get much better than that.

How does one put words on the delivery of a dream?

The iconic patch of grass on the banks of the Moy which remembers the late, great Ivan Heffernan, has witnessed many famous days, but nothing to match Saturday’s celebrations when Ballina RFC were crowned All Ireland League Division 2C champions.
Generations of effort, decades of selfless dedication all came to fruition just after 4pm when the final whistle signalled the delivery of a dream and national recognition.
A league season, which began with hopes of survival had morphed into much, much more and afterwards Club President, Martin Boland branded the current squad as the best ever in the 91-year history of the club.
The game itself had been everything Ballina hoped for. They needed to win the game and score four tries to secure the title and that’s exactly what they did.
Dylan Prendergast and Mickey Murphy set the tone in the opening minutes. Their excellent positional play knocked Tullamore backwards and the Ballina pack went to work.
They provided quality ball and after seven minutes, Bradley Nealon raised the roof when he skirted in for a try on the right and Ballina were off and running. Ten minutes later, Chris O’Neill raced in on the other wing and the dream was taking shape.
Two tries down and two to go!
Calum Quinn and Kieran Lindsay were causing all sorts of chaos in the Tullamore defensive line and after 27 minutes the third try arrived when Nealon raced over again and the place was going mad.
Conor Mason, Luke Sweeney and Shane Clarke were powering forward, Aiden McNulty, Richard Morrow and Fergal Tully were everywhere while Daniel Molloy and Neal Moylett were fighting for every inch of ground.
Eventually, half time arrived with Ballina 19-3 clear and needing one more try for glory, and while everyone was buzzing, there was still a little tension that the fourth try might not arrive.
Those worries were put to bed 90 seconds into the new half when Luke Sweeney raced through and the heavens rocked as the community celebrated the delivery of the title.
Ballina were champions and there were tears of joy evident all around the ground.
The rest of the half was a joy to behold. The Moy men were playing with great abandon and Tullamore were fighting for their lives, hoping to secure a bonus point.
They achieved that goal before the end with four fine tries from Brown, Gilligan, McSweeney and Murphy, but Ballina didn’t care. They were in try-scoring form themselves and added three of their own from Darragh Whyte, Neal Moylett and the final one from team captain Fergal Tully, who was readying himself to lift silverware.
A few minutes later, JP Leonard, David Newman and the coaching team watched on proudly as the cup was lifted to the heavens and the greatest of all celebrations got underway in earnest.
BALLINA: C O’Neill, D Whyte, C Quinn, K Lindsay, B Nealon, D Prendergast, M Murphy; C Mason, L Sweeney, S Clarke, A McNulty, R Morrow, F Tully, D Molloy, N Moylett
Replacements; J Keaveney, B Boland, A West, B McVann, S McCarron, C McCormick, M Cribben, N Keane, H Hewson, D Brunker, T Wallace
TULLAMORE: S McCabe, D Kelso, T Gilligan, B McSweeney, E Farrell, K Dunne, A Hyde; M Murphy, C Feighery, G Molloy, S Rigney, C Ennis, K Brown, S Pyke, B Bracken
REF: S Kearns (Munster)