All-Ireland title was in the bag

â€â€ and so were the missing jerseys! By JIM CARNEY THE biggest day in the history of Ballinasloe Football Club got off to a dreadful start when human error cost them their beloved Black and Amber jerseys at Croke Park on Sunday, but it ended in a glorious victory. And, as pictured by Herald staff photographer Ray Ryan, the jerseys were found and brought to Croke Park just in time for the post-match celebrations and souvenir photographs. It was a shattering experience for the person charged with the responsibility of loading the large bag containing the 30 Ballinasloe jerseys into the team bus, but he was forgiven for leaving them at home when the club known to their fans as â€Å“The Townâ€Â scored a fantastic All-Ireland Junior Club Championship final win over the favourites, Kerry and Munster cham­pions Kenmare Shamrocks, by 0-14 to 0-10. The victorious team manager, Seán Riddell, could even take a light-hearted view of the incident after the big match; Seán admitted it was his own overall responsibility to ensure everything was in order for the early morning trip to Dublin and he said his heart went out to the person who simply forgot to put the bag on board, in the excitement and tension of the build-up. One of Dublinâ€â„¢s top GAA clubs, Na Fianna from Glasnevin, came to the rescue with a set of primrose and blue jerseys and â€â€ as reported on our back page â€â€ the legendary Armagh manager Joe Kernan, whose mother was from Ballinasloe, also offered to help the Galway and Connacht Junior champions as the throw-in drew nearer in the Theatre of Dreams for all Gaelic footballers, in all grades. All of Ballinasloe breathed a huge sigh of relief when the game was over, and afterwards they joked that the drama of the missing jerseys was all for luck â€â€ two other well-known teams who also wear Black and Amber, Crossmaglen footballers and Kilkenny hurlers, lost last time out: Kilkenny to their arch rivals Galway at Pearse Stadium on Sunday, in the NHL. It wasnâ€â„¢t the only drama behind the scenes for Ballinasloe footballers on Sunday. It was a hectic day, too, for one of the players, brilliant wing-forward Garry Canavan, who was collected off a plane at Dublin Airport at 10 oâ€â„¢clock on Sunday morning, having just flown from Lebanon where he is on peace-keeping duties with the Irish Army. Garry, whose only sleep on Saturday night came on board the plane, gave a superb display of hard running and clever use of the ball; he was a hero, one of many on the day, although it was essentially a team display as Ballinasloe brought honour and glory to Galway football on the big stage. See also Pages 28 and 24.