Club championship round-up

Willie Joe

Photo: @MayoGAA

It’s been another action-packed weekend of club championship action within the county, with some silverware doled out for good measure at MacHale Park today. Here’s a quick round-up of what took place.

At MacHale Park this afternoon Lahardane McHales – a club founded in 1966 – won their first ever club championship title when they got the better of Kilmaine in the final of the Junior A football championship. The North Mayo club, managed by John Maughan, won out by 2-11 to 0-15.

Favourites Kilmaine, who led for the bulk of the hour, looked to be on their way to victory when they led by three points with five minutes to go. In a hectic last few minutes, however, a goal and a point from Lahardane was enough to clinch a famous win – and the Pete McDonnell Cup – by the narrowest of margins.

The curtain-raiser at MacHale Park this afternoon also saw a shock result. That was in the Minor A championship final where Balla beat Westport by 1-14 to 1-11.

In the senior football championship, meanwhile, the field was cut from eight to five over the last few days. It would have been down to four had Ballintubber not survived a late, late scare against Hollymount/Carramore yesterday evening – when they lost possession in their own half deep in injury time and an attempt at the posts by Conor Keane fell short, having been half blocked down – with that tie ending at 0-17 apiece.

The replay has been fixed for MacHale Park this coming Wednesday evening (throw-in 8pm) and the winners will face surprise packets Claremorris in the semi-finals. They knocked out Breaffy yesterday, coming from behind to win by 1-10 to 0-12.

The other semi-final pairing sees defending champions Castlebar Mitchels up against Garrymore. Mitchels had a goal to spare over Knockmore yesterday, winning by 1-13 to 0-13, while Garrymore engineered an extraordinary comeback against Ballina Stephenites this afternoon. Trailing by 1-5 to 0-0 early on they proceeded to rack up a total of 4-13 by the finish, while Ballina were only able to add a further six points to their tally.

The battle to avoid relegation from the senior ranks was narrowed slightly too. Westport retained their status thanks to a comprehensive 2-15 to 1-9 win over Ballinrobe yesterday while Aghamore and Davitts played out an 0-14 to 1-11 draw this afternoon. I’ve no details, I’m afraid, on when that one will be replayed.

In the Intermediate championship the semi-finals will see Kiltimagh play Louisburgh while Moy Davitts will face Islandeady. Kiltimagh beat Ardnaree by 0-14 to 1-9, Louisburgh beat Mayo Gaels by 1-13 to 0-9, Bohola Moy Davitts defeated Parke by 1-17 to 1-15 while Islandeady got the better of Burrishoole by 2-18 to 2-12.

Rounding off this collection of results, on Friday evening Bohola Moy Davitts beat Eastern Gaels by 0-11 to 1-7 in the JFC B semi-final replay. The same evening, Annagh Rovers (the underage combination of Aghamore and Ballyhaunis) won the Minor B championship title, beating Ardnaree by 1-12 to 0-7 in the final.

65 thoughts on “Club championship round-up”

  1. WJ your service is second to none. On a par with the great Sean Og O’ Ceallaghan for local GAA roundup on a Sunday night. Great to see competitive football back again to lift the spirits. And as we head towards the business end some of the big names have fallen with newer kids on the block. Well done Claremorris and Garrymore. Brings us back to the big names of the 1970’s and some epic 3 in a rows

  2. Hard to look past castlebar matching Dublin and doing a 3 in a row. What do they put in the tea up around garrymore that they keep been competitive in championship. They have lost a number of players the last few years but still make the competitive end of the championship each year

  3. Watched four games on mayogaatv.com today and yesterday evening for 8 euro from comfort of my living room in London. I hope its supported and sustainable because it is a brilliant service.

  5. Was at junior final. Great game. Game was won through the better conditioning of the Lahardane team. They were bigger, stronger and fitter. Kilmaine probably had the better football players but in the current climate you need to be better conditioned. Some of Kilmaine’s smaller players found it difficult to keep position and late in the second half tiredness was shown and mistakes started happening for Kilmaine. I though Kilmaine made a mistake in playing Pat Kelly from the start. He would have been a great sight coming on early in the second half.

  6. A great day for the household with Gary (my 1st cousin) captaining the magnificent Lahardane side to victory. I’m away in Lanzarote but did not miss a kick thanks to Mayo Gaa Tv. The whole fanily are delighted but Gary’s late father Tommy would be especially proud of him today. Enjoy the win lads!

  7. Was in the COE today, saw some really good stuff, delighted for Garrymore, and for all the south Mayo teams really, was impressed with young corner forward for Ballina, Ciaran ?? No 15 very lively and nice footballer, commiserations to Kilmaine, all in all a good wknd of football,

  8. Having a personal connection to the area, I`m thrilled to see Lahardane winning the Junior Title.
    Another notch on John Maughan`s belt as well.

  9. Parke v Moy Davitts was a brilliant game of football in Bekan today. Parke looked dead and buried at half time, 0-11 0-5 down. Rallied back with 4 points in the first six minutes of the second half. Davitts replied with a quick 1-1, followed by a quick 1-1 from Parke!

    Had they been a small bit more composed in the last play, they could have equalised, but Davitts turned it over and won a free at the death to win by 2. Brilliant game.

    Mitchels had a solid win on Saturday good crowd in Ballina too from both clubs. Our second team won well in Achill which is a massive step towards retaining 1C football next year. So it’s another year of intermediate for our second team.

    Very entertaining weekend of football!

  11. I attended the double header Saturday nite of Claremorris v Breaffy and Holly/Carramore v Ballintubber.
    Breaffy must be kicking themselves for losing this game, minus Seamie O’Shea, Michael Hall, Matthew Ruane going in to the game and Liam Irwin on the bench they missed a number of easy goal scoring oppurtunities they should have been out the gate at half time, but fair play to Claremorris they kept plugging away and took their scores while Breaffy struggled outside of Aidan and Conor O’Shea they were very poor in the 2nd half.
    Was very impressed with Conor Diskin in the Claremorris forwards Shaughnessy and David Reilly were impressive too.
    In the other game it looked like Tubber wer gonna run away with this at one stage but a 2nd half revival from Holly with sum fine impressive scores from Conor Keane and Darren Coen ensured there would be a 2nd day out.Players to stand out were Michael Plunkett has all the attributes of a county footballer and Alan Dillion was pulling the strings in the 1st half and Conor Keane was very impressive for Holly.

  12. Conor Keane is always mentioned as one of Hollymounts best players in every game they play. Anecdotal, but whenever I read the paper and there’s a Hollymount match, inevitably his name crops up.
    That was a lot of players for Breaffy to be missing in fairness. Not a stretch to say that with even half of thos players involved, like Seamie plus Mathew Ruane they would have been able to win by a few points.

  13. Brian Reape caused all sorts of problems for Parke as expected JP. He tacked a few scores. Simon Cloherty for Parke was good. Ronan Carolan came into the game second half and caused a lot of problems for Moy Davitts. He has great pace and drive. Ronan would have been on the extended minor panel in 13.

    Davitts had a very quick corner forward, fair haired lad, his name escapes me, who I thought was very good in the first half.

    It was a game of two halves. First half Davitts looked far superior. Looked senior quality being honest and Parke pulled out a second half performance to match that. Genuinely enjoyable, high scoring game of football.

  14. MayoMark , I was at this game also, a fantastic game of football, two good teams that went toe to toe, Davitts just about won it but could have gone either way. Reape looks a very good player and have to say the no. 8 for Parke looks a serious player, I think he is called Neary. It was a really good game.

  15. @MayoMark – The quick corner forward was probably Brian Heneghan. If not him then likely Liam Byrne.

  16. Replay of senior relegation semi final Aghamore v Davitts now confirmed for Sunday 15th Oct at 1pm in Ballyhaunis

  17. Josh Ronayne scored 3 pts for Davitts, won their penalty and was unlucky to have a goal disallowed. He is in good form for Davitts all year long.

  18. Brian Reape from Moy Davitts seems to the man on everybodies lips and is sure to nail down a spot on Mayos national league team in 2018 plus young Ciaran Treacy from Ballina does anyone kno if he played county minor or under 21? Also Jack Reilly from Charlestown is a man that deserves a chance in the Fbd has a serious left foot on him. Any other forwards showing up well that deserve a call from Rochy?
    Thought Mark Tierney for Garrymore had a great game yesterday against Ballina not sure what age he is.
    Neil Douglas is now gone 27 and time is starting to run out on him if hes to make a mark on the Inter county scene.It mite be better if Castlebar wer knocked out early this year and he got a decent chance from Rochy in the League.

  19. Moy Davitts look like they have plenty of fire power. Brian Reape, Sean Kelly (former Mayo Minor), Brian Heneghan seems to be always playing well judging by reports. They also have Anthony Jordan who played Mayo minor. What are they like at the back? Conceding 1-15 doesn’t inspire confidence. Saw Islandeady yesterday and they shot the lights out, the one thing that was evident was the spread of scores. They had no real star player, everybody chipped in. Also a physical side.
    Kiltmagh seem battle hardened from last year and judging by league results look like the favourites for intermediate. Don’t rule out Louisburgh. They look like their peaking for championship and play a lovely brand of football. Will be an entertaining double header in Ballina on Saturday although the clubs from the West might feel hard done by with the “Neutral venue”.

  20. did Treacy from Ballina ever play minor or U21 ??

    Was in the COE yday, he has some turn of pace, like a sprinter when he has ball in hand

  23. The powerhouses of West Mayo appear to be in decline, this could be bad for the County setup. As a South Mayo man I cant remember ( never) when two teams got into the last 4, this could be 3 if Holly /Carra get through against Cillian O Connor and Co.
    Claremorris successes at minor and u21 will surely help their cause. I wonder if all the aggro behind the scenes in Holly / Carra has finally evaporated. It’s a shame that a few old timers are trying to have a big influence over things.

  25. Treacy looks quality he showed that in 1st quarter,in fairness to him and Evan Regan they wer starved of possesion for long periods after that and after Padraig O’Hora getting sent off it really opened up in the Ballina defence.Garrymore inployed a blanket defence and were breaking quick on the counter which made it hard for Regan and Treacy to get on the scoreboard.

  26. Seanie Regan was good. Might be worth a look in FBD. He certainly has the physique for senior football anyway.

  29. He scored 1-4. 1-2 from play. The only cautionary word would be that he was picked up by Garrymore’s most inexperienced defender. Looked way more lively than Evan

  30. Disappointed with Evan have been hearing for years that he is the real deal and the next big thing. Mayo football badly needs forwards shooting the lights out

  31. A lot of the 2016 minors are going well for senior clubs. Not a feted team exiting to Kildare in a heavy defeat that year. If you go through the names potentially we have more players going well from this 2016 team than even the successful 2013 and 2014 teams.
    Brian OMalley – Playing midfield, full back for Westport. A wonderfully old school player, very good in the air.
    Pat Lambert – A flying player wing back/wing forward for Westport. Slotted right into their senior team.
    Johnny Maughan – Very impressive to slot into what was Tom Cunniffes place and look comfortable.
    Jordan Flynn – Really starting to go well for Crossmolina. Strong lad. Much better than his minor days.
    Ross Egan – Getting the scores on the board for Aghamore much moreso than minor.
    Colm Moran – This is a lad who has made a huge step from minor. Built to the ground as they say.
    Evan Ronayne – A panellist. Going well for Davitts in league/championship. 5 crucial pts yesterday for example.
    Conor Diskin – A panellist. Going well for Claremorris and strong.
    All playing in clubs that are really good at improving young players. Probably more critical than the relative talents at u17/u18.

  35. I think he is worth a look, we are crying out for forwards when you see Stephen Coen & David Drake being used as auxillary forwards. I have only seen him the once so hard to make definitive judgement. Seems to be pacy and an eye for goal but big step up to intercounty scene.

    Would like to see a few new faces for FBD and first four rounds of the league. I just wonder are our selectors Donie & Tony attending these games, I believe they are not.
    It looks like a closed shop, hope I’m wrong,

  37. Think its a bit soon to be discussing Buckley and Mc Entee looking at forwards when no mgmt is ratified for next year..

  38. Whatever management we have would be mad to let Buckley, McEntee and Solan go. They had a huge role to play in getting us where we got to.

  39. Shane McHale of knockmore had a good game at the weekend. Big strong lad only 27 still. Don’t think he’s a gamechanger, possibly a bit slow, but he was better than both Barry Moran and Danny Kirby at the weekend.
    Agree on Johnny Maughan – a big strong fella of 19 who looked at home in castlebar defence.
    Marcus Parke of knockmore is another young lad worth keeping an eye on over the next couple of years.
    What about Adrian Leonard of Lahardane?

  40. I have heard from two of Mayos management stalwarts that knockmores mchale should be starting for Mayo in midfield. Big and strong in midfield and can play the ball which all modern day 8’s and 9’s need to be able handle. Saw tubbers gibbons playing and like him in midfield also if he can up his work rate

  41. Midfield is a very hard position to judge based on club football. Shane McHale is big for club football but not particularly big or athletic for county level if thinking about midfield. He was always a defender at county level with Mayo.
    On the right fitness probably Tom Clarke is Knockmores best midfielder. Just was unavailable a while this year.

  42. Takeyourpoints care to expand on your point about what you heard from “Two of Mayos management stalwarts”.
    Personally don’t see us throwing in a fella who has played in the backs down the years for club and county in to midfield at intercounty level. Other counties would love to have the options we have there. If we’re trying anyone out midfield we should be trying out a natural midfieder like Matthew Ruane/ Micheal Forde or Padraic Prendergast.
    Larry Duff I saw Leonard in the semi final against Balla. He impressed me with his rapid speed and direct running. Could be a little raw around the edges but that could be trained out of him in a development panel or he could be brought on under the guidance of Maughan. Anyone know what age he is?
    Two big double headers again this weekend folks, plenty of players to go and check out.

  43. I was impressed with Marcus Park Saturday evening , he gave it Douglas in spades…. tough tackling …. reminded of knockmore players of old

  44. I watched Breaffy Claremorris last night. Very influential were Claremorris u21s.
    Conor Diskin has a lot of potential given that he is still u19. He’s a big lad, was winning ball, passing well and took an important point late on. Matthew Macken came on and brilliantly setup the winning point with a driving run. He has a serious gallop once he is up into his stride.

  45. Thought McCormack was v good for Claremorris v AOS.
    Agree 100% with Sam Maguire 2018,
    Jack Rielly Charlestown both feet v good
    Tracey Ballina..only seen one game,looks OK,heard good things but don’t know.
    Don’t know what Shane Nally has to do to get on Mayo team,I know he drifts in and out of games but his passing of 40-50 yards is unreal.
    In my opinion should have been used.

    I think if the funds were there they should train a lot of these new lads with the U-20s at the start of the year or even Nov when there back and have them ready for the FBD.

    I’ve been at games of all grades this year and for a few years.We are not given our intermediate and junior players a fair crack it.There is a lot of players there that if given a chance would play senior club with ease.
    Maybe we should bring back the divisional teams again especially during them 10-14 weeks when club championship comes to a halt,Play a second senior championship with divisional teams in it.
    I think it would take the boredom out of it for the lads during the summer and its something different that would be worth a go.

  46. Play a round robin of divisional during the summer months they would all get 3 games some areas would have more junior teams to pick from but the best players might show up from a weaker squad

  48. I was delighted to see my beloved Lahardane finally get the holy grail we craved for 51 years.My rose tinted glasses tell me the whole squad should be fast tracked into the FBD squad!!!
    Just nit picking but we had a whopping 2 points to spare so it wasn’t by the narrowest of margins but a win is a win is a win!

  49. Did anyone see the video that appears to be going viral of a guy in a bookies on about corruption in mayo football ?

    I was sent it by 3 different people !!!, that’s all we need now raising silly stories again

  50. Mayoman, with all due respect, I suggest you
    – delete the video
    – do not reply to those who sent it to you
    – do not take the risk of increasing publicity for such items by mentioning it on any blogs

    This is just my opinion and suggestion, no offence intended. Each individual must make their own personal choices.

  52. Fair play to Mayo roosterman that’s a great win for Lahardane. Incedently John Mawn has still got it and his son Johnny can play a bit too.

  53. Gibbons should never have been let go from the Mayo panel, one of SR few errors, he was the only genuine county-class midfield cover. Jarleth Mullen from Kilmaine is a genuine pacey two-footed forward who could prosper with extended S&C.Leonard also is very pacey.

  54. I saw it mayoman. The biggest pile of bullshit I’ve ever seen. Some ass who probably lost money betting, ranting incoherently, not even pub talk. Wouldn’t even worry about it although no doubt it’s flying around the various GAA what’s app groups in Ireland, what with Mayo being box office and all that.
    Good to hear of young talent in club games. We need some bolters, for me, if James Durcan bulked up like his brother paddy he’d be a real option. I think he has a lot of potential.

  56. James durcan is one of the best forwards in mayo, needs to be brought in to the squad immediately

  57. i think it should be formally announced ASAP if all the Mayo management team are staying on

    I seen Joe Keane at club games at the weekend , wonder is he doing the scouting for mayo Management ?

  59. Whatever happened to Fionan Duffy from crossmolina ?

    he showed a lot of promise at underage but has fallen totally off the radar,

    is he still playing club football? , haven’t heard much about him

  60. He hasn’t fallen totally off the radar at all. He was very much on the radar with his own shooting radar intact kicking 8pts (7f) versus Ballinrobe in the final group game.

  61. Saw Fionan Duffy playing for his club last year. No work rate off the ball, no appetite to win the hard ball, got mabye 1 score from play. Scored a few frees but missed some scorable frees as well.

  62. He was only u20 last year in fairness. He’ll be a fair operator yet at 22/23. With his build he’ll never be a greyhound but you wouldn’t like to see him trotting into your corner if you have tired legs. Has natural power, he just needs a few seasons to get the rawness out of him.

  63. Don’t know Jp have to agree with south Mayo exile ; he has filled out a lot and sure he couldn’t make the u 21 squad this year

    The game I seen he was very slow.

    That’s my opinion

  65. Mayomafia – I’ve had to delete two disparaging comments from you about different players. There are rules around here about what you can and cannot say when referencing individual players so please acquaint yourself with them before commenting here again.

    By the way, one of those players is only a young lad who hasn’t yet played senior county and it’s completely out of order to be making disparaging comments about him. Mayoman and South Mayo Exile – I’ve deleted bits of comments from you both for the same reason and I’d appeal to you and to everyone in general to have a bit more cop-on when posting critical remarks about players.

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