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Titles captured by Westport, Breaffy, Swinford, Geesala, The Neale, Facefield and Errew. After many weeks of thrills, spills and goals galore the A.I.B. sponsored Cumann na mBunscol Mhaigheo football and Hurling championships came to a climax at Mc Hale Park, Castlebar, last week. The 7 titles up for grabs were evenly spread throughout the County.
DIVISION 1 FINAL. Swinford 1-8, Claremorris 1-7 Robert McCallion emerged the hero in Swinford N.S. capturing the Division one title by the narrowest of margins over a battling Claremorris side. The sides were deadlocked for a long period and when a replay looked likely up popped Mc Callion to guide over the winner for the East Mayo Champions. After recording a very comfortable win over The Quay in the semi-final, Claremorris were favourites to win the title and they looked like justifying the tag when Greg Mulkerrins brought the wind-assisted side on level terms 4 mins into the second period with 2 fine points. Owen Gallagher, ably assisted by Conor Walsh, continued to dominate the exchanges at Midfield for Swinford and this superiority was quickly reflected on the scoreboard when Mc Callion and Owen Gallagher restored a two point advantage. 10 minutes from the end Claremorris exerted great pressure on the winners defence but sterling work by team captain Noel Gallagher, Eoghan Gallagher, Liam Lynkey, Dermot Walsh, Vincent Murtagh and Edward Moore denied Claremorris of match-winning scores. Kevin Timothy and Greg Mulkerins did manage to bring the losers on level terns with 4 minutes remaining and for the next 3 mins the issue remained in the balance. Only 40 seconds remained when Robert McCallion, under pressure, snatched the winner for Swinford, with all the coolness of an experienced player. Owen Gallagher had given the winners a great start with a goal in the first minute and at the interval they led by 1-4 to 1-2. Swinford: Raymond Rooney, Liam Lynskey, Noel Gallagher-(capt.), Edward Moore, Eoghan Gallaghan, Dermot Walsh, Vincnet Murtagh, Conor Walsh(0-2), Eoin Gallagher (1-2), Cormac Feelay, Enda Murtagh, Robert Mc Callion (0-2), Padraic Brennan, Eamon Byrne (0-1), Brendan Forkan. Claremorris: Edward Mc Loughlin, Niall Whittle, John Mc Gahon, Brian Clarke, David Kilkenny, Paul Nevin, Eimhann Griffith, Stephen Walsh, Ronan Ruane, Kevin Timothy (0-1), Greg Mulkerrins (0-5), Gary Gallagher, Kevin Gallagher, Niall Heneghan (1-1), Paul Hennelly. Referee: Liam Higgins-Ballina.
DIVISION TWO FINAL Breaffy 1-13, Belmullet 3-5
Little David 'STICKY' Thornton became the hero of the day for Breaffy when he clinched a last minute goal to secure the Division 2 cup by 2 points from Belmullet in a thriller. Right half forward Thornton, who was by far the smallest player on the pitch, fought hard to round 3 backs before sticking the ball in the back of the net just when Breaffy needed it. Breaffy called on all their resources to pull back from a 6 point deficit after Belmullet scored two shock goals in the second half in the space of 3 minutes through Peter Keane and super sub Jimmy Lavelle. Belmullet, who were appearing in their first County final, had remained undefeated all year with a string of league wins, which included Breaffy, were relying on their target man full forward Jimmy Lavelle who came on as a substitute scoring 2 fine goals. However, Breaffy, who have dominated Div.2 of the North Mayo League in the past 3 years, had already the experience from last year's County final and it stood them in good stead as they reaped their reward. In a very free flowing game that only produced 14 infringement it was hard to foretell who would win out at the end of the day with points being matched at either end and Breaffy only a point down 0-6 and Belmullet 1-4 at half time. Breaffy were left with all to do with only 10 mins to go. They stopped Belmullet in their tracks and began a scoring spree through Alan Kelly, Mark Barrett, David Thornton and John Rafter. With only 2 mins to go Breaffy were 2 points behind and applied the pressure until the breakthrough came with David Thornton's superb goal from just inside the square. Breaffy: J Hussey, D Lynch, S Clarke, D Jordan, E O Hora, A Kelly (0-6), M Barrett (0-2), D Thornton (1-2), E Forde, J Rafter (0-2), J Friel (0-1). Belmullet: M Heffernan, K Byrne, A Kavanagh, S Gaughan, B Lynch, D Mc Intyre, J Kavanagh, M Caffrey, P Keane (1-3), G Reilly (0-2), I Cafferkey. Subs: J Lavelle (2-0) for B Lynch. Referee: Walter Cox, Kilmeena.
DIVISION 3 FINAL Errew 3-9, Meelick 1-4
2 mins into this final Meelick were left with an almost impossible task as the winners David Quinn had the ball in the Meelick net on two occasions. The losers did recover somewhat in the final period but failed to breakdown the Errew defence for the goals they badly needed to boost their chances of victory. At the interval Errew held a 2-6 to no score lead and the advantage was never threatened in the second half. Errew: Michael Byrne, Paul Earley, Tommy Kilcoyne, Paul Cosgrove, Michael Hoban (0-3), Thomas Earley (0-1), David Quinn (2-3), John Flaherty, Liam Cosgrove (1-2). Meelick: John Rowley, Seamus Fogarty, Anthony Walsh, Shane Conlon, Sean Durkan, Damien Gavin (0-1), Thomas Geraghty (1-2), Vincent Roughneen (0-1), Tomas Mc Hugh. Ref: Pat Byrne.
HURLING DIVISION ONE FINAL. Westport C.B.S. 6-2, Tooreen 2-2 On the opening match of the Cumann na mBunscol finals the strong wind was the only inhibiting factor which kept all things from being equal, but with that said Westport had enough drive, energy and talent to run out convincing winners. They dominated in all areas of the field with most of the credit going to midfielder Stephen Broderick, who scored a marvellous 4 goals and two points, and was by far the man of the match. He notched up 4 goals in the first half with the first goal coming after only a minute of play when he took a free from the halfway line and dropped it right over the goalkeepers head into the back of the net. In a game that resembled soccer scores with Westport going in at half time 5-1 up to Tooreen's 1-0 it was ironic that Tooreen goalkeeper Michael Nolan pulled off some magnificent saves which kept his team in with a fighting chance. But with the wind to their backs in the second half they strove to improve their score, piling attack upon attack, only to be blocked and swallowed up by the light blue jerseys of the Westport backs. If they could have converted their 7 wides in the second half in to good scores it might have swung the game for them with Brendan Nolan and Michael Mc Hugh battling on to try and do their team justice. After the 32nd minute they finally broke through with midfielder Michael Keane swiping from the ground to put the ball in the back of the net after tussing with the goalkeeper for possession. But the wind slowly filtered out of their sails as the more cohesive effort of the Westport lads wore Tooreen down. Westport: O McNamara, C Sadler, M Sheridan, D Gallagher, D Morrin (1-0), C Ryan, S. Broderick (4-2), A J Keegan (1-0), P Broderick, J Hogan, P Scahill. Sub. J Moore for P Scahill. Tooreen: M Nolan, B Nolan (0-1), K Robinson, D Duffy, S Ganley, M Keane (1-0), P Freyne, E Nolan, D Connor, C Freyne, M Mc Hugh (1-1). Ref. Christy Conlon-Castlebar.
GIRLS A FOOTBALL FINAL. The Neale 8-12, Carrowholly 0-2 In a totally one-sided affair the girls from the Neale outplayed the West Mayo Carrowholly black and whites, never giving them the chance to get into the game. With a scoreline that reflects the dominance of The Neale N.S. it wasn't until the dying moments of the first half before Carrowholly got inside their opponents territory, but even then to no avail. Despite a long list of successes the girls in green from The Neale had never won this competition and came out to prove their ability. With 3 girls from the team Barbara Mylottte, Bernie Maye, Elaine Kennedy having already played with the Cong Community Games team, which won last year's All Ireland final, their experience was increased two fold for competitive games. This experience was visible from the outset with a goal in the first minute from Bernie Maye and continuing on with 3 more before the half was out. At half time, The Neale were 5 goals and six points up leaving it all to do for Carrowholly who hadn't even marked the score board yet. But the black and whites never gave in and with the wind at their back in the second half they drove forward with the talented midfielder Sinead Hopkins running all the way from inside her own half to score a magnificent point from 20 yards out. She was followed by full back Catherine Moore who scored another great point. But the Neale came back with their sub. Ann Killeen putting them even further ahead with another goal and a point. The Neale: M Morrin, B Mylotte (2-2), M O Malley, E Kennedy (1-0), M Killeen (1-3), C Hughes (0-6), B Maye (3-0). Subs: A Killeen (1-1) for B Maye. Carrowkennedy: S Reilly, C Moore (0-1), E Ryder, M Murray, S Hopkins (0-1), M Gill, F Hopkins. Ref: Tony Fahy-Foxford.
GIRLS B FOOTBALL FINAL. Geesala 8-3, Newport 3-4 Geesala, who were contesting their Cumann na mBunscol finals for the first time, showed exemplary skill in all the rudiments of the game and punished their opponents with every opportunity. Midfielder Breege Coyle was particularly outstanding and a main instigator in leading her team to victory with her through finishing scratching up an impressive tally of 4 goals and a point. By the end of the first half Newport were losing by 1-2 to Geesala's 3-1 as the girls from Geesala dominated in every sphere and with 3 quick goals in the opening minutes of the second half they began to run away with it. Newport fought hard to get back into the game but failed to get to terms with the Geesala seven's until midway through the second half when they scored two goals and two points in the space of 4 mins. At this stage thet were down by 8 points but midfielder Audrey Mc Govern scorer of 2 goals and forwards Carmel Conway and Fidelma Moran worked particularly hard to pull back the deficit only to be met by the brick wall defense of the Geesala gang. With the pressure mounting Geesala came out to enforce their authority and made sure they were taking the cup home. A passing movement between midfielders Breege Coyle and Rachel Barrett led to the first of two great goals from play by Barrett sealing the game for them. Geesala: N Gaughan, P Scanlon, B Donoghue, B Coyle (4-1), R Barrett (2-1), M Reilly (2-0), B. Barrett (0-1).
Newport: T Hyland, M Nevin, B Murray, A Mc Govern (2-0), C Conway (1-2), F Moran (0-2). Ref: Pat Byrne, Neale. |
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