League Division 3 Promotion Play-Off (Sunday 16-November-97)

Ollie earns Breaffy heavenly reward

Breaffy...................0-9
Lahardane.................0-7

And so it came to pass that nothing passed Cunningham and Breaffy were raised up on the final day.

As an abundance of possession fell, like mannah from heaven, into the hands of Lahardane's James Gillespie and Shane Blake during most of Sunday's second half, Ollie lorded it between the posts denying Vinnie Cawley, Declan Leonard and John Rowland spectacularly in one-on-one situations. And when he couldn't get his haloed hands to the ball, he watched as Leonard's ten-yard sizzler miraculously came back off the crossbar into the arms of Gerry Burke who shot agonisingly across the face of the goal.

John Rowland must have felt certain he would end the famine when he bore down on goal with five minutes to play only for another dose of divine intervention by Cunningham, with Tom Cawley blazing the rebound right from five yards. Add in eight first half wides with the breeze at their backs and you get a fair idea of the kind of day Lahardane had at a greasy McHale Park.

This is not to take away from Jim O'Shea's Breaffy who did what they had to, when they had to, and can be expected to reap definitive rewards at a higher level next season. Without playing as well as they can, Breaffy always had sufficient resources in skill and savoir faire to win promotion and so it proved. Going in at 0-4 apiece at the break, it seemed they were set for comfortable victory after dominating with some quality patches of football against a stiff breeze, and watching their North Mayo rivals agonise over wide after wide.

During the first ten minutes of this crucial tie, Noel Garrett, Shane Blake, John Rowland, Declan Leonard, Anthony McDermott and Vinnie Cawley all missed the mark from eminently scorable positions and Lahardane had to console themselves with a 0-1 to 0-1 scoreline after twelve minutes, with Declan Jennings equalising Shane Blake's twelfth second opener. John Rowland, with a quality strike from play, and James Gillespie, with a fifty yard free, did open up a two point margin by the 21st minute, before Breaffy strung three together inside the next two minutes through Kenneth Walsh, wing back, Kieran Doyle, who fisted over, and Colm Lyons, with Declan Jennings at the heart of most things good for Breaffy at this stage.

With Robert Fahey winning more than his fair share at midfield, and with Sean Grealish, Doyle, Kevin Scahill and Mark Fahey battening down the hatches in defence, Lahardane seemed lost going in at half time, even with Gillespie's 28th minute equaliser.

Lost? Not at all. They were inspired for 31 minutes of the second half with Damien Kelly a colossus at full back, wonderfully supported by the Marleys, Mervyn and Adrian, whose switch diminished Declan Jenning's effect. Gillespie and Blake set up chance after chance for their attack, and Breaffy had to wait until the 33rd minute of the half for their first wide of the period. They did manage two Kenneth Walsh frees and an excellent Colm Lyons point to open up a three point gap as Lahardane went 25 minutes of the half without reward until Gillespie put over a good free from 35 yards.

That signalled the comeback which evolved with two late late Leonard points which suggested a replay, however, with six minutes of injury time to come, mostly for a "suspicious" injury to Robert Fahey, a replay disappeared into thin air. From the kick-out, Lahardane, almost inevitably, won possession. However, a basic error from Vinnie Cawley presented possession to the unmarked Lyons and he kept his cool and fired over a glorious point from 50 yards to break the black and amber. Kenneth Walsh kept his cool, as did Breaffy throughout a difficult encounter, to point a late free and continue the rise and rise of one of Mayo's most progressive clubs.

Lahardane: E. Coyne, A. Marley, D. Kelly, F. Bryan, M. Marley, A. McDermott, A. Irwin, J. Gillespie (0-3); S. Blake (0-1); N. Garrett, J. Rowland (0-1); V. Cawley, G. Burke, D. Leonard (0-2); T. Cawley. Subs.: B. Rowland (for Garrett); J. McDonnell (for Irwin).

Ref.: J. Walsh (Claremorris).