Blue Devils show that it’s never Too’ late
GAA Football All-Star nominee Jack Coyne of Ballyhaunis goes over the top to try and grab the sliotar during last Sunday's Mayo SHC final against Tooreen. Picture: Michael Donnelly
Tooreen completed a brilliant late comeback against their great rivals Ballyhaunis on Sunday to clinch their fifth TJ Tyrell Cup in succession, after as dramatic a finish as you could imagine.
As stoppage-time commenced, Ballyhaunis were finishing stronger and drew level courtesy of a Cormac Phillips free before the ace marksman then hit over his eleventh point in total to a thundering roar by the home support. Victory looked theirs; Trevor Kelly’s side just had to hold on.
Three minutes of that stoppage-time had elapsed when Tooreen were awarded a 70-yard free close to the stand. Astonishingly, Shane Boland’s strike dropped into on a packed goalmouth and the sliotar somehow ended up in the net.
Ballyhaunis claimed it was a square ball and protested hurriedly. Referee Eadhmonn Mac Suibhne went in to discuss with his umpires and came away with the decision to award the goal despite the home side’s claims. The game did continue after the puck-out but only for a very brief moment and then it was done – Tooreen had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Unsavoury and unpleasant scenes developed after the full-time whistle as players and substitutes from both sides clashed in several skirmishes that resulted in at least two red cards being flashed by Mac Suibhne, who had a difficult afternoon throughout.
Thankfully, calm was eventually restored and afterwards Tooreen manager Ray Larkin expressed his relief, knowing his team can improve a lot heading into further challenges ahead.
“These games between ourselves are Ballyhaunis are never pretty. We gave away an awful lot of frees. We were lucky in the end, it has to be said. We didn’t play up to our usual standards. It’s so hard to get over the line in these games. This was always our toughest battle and fair play to Ballyhaunis, they put up a very good performance against us, but we just got through very late in the end.
“On reflection, the changes we implemented were done well, which was pleasing. However, we were four up at half-time but after the restart, Ballyhaunis got the first two scores and halved that deficit, which was disappointing. That’s something we need to work on. Again, we gave away too many silly frees on top of that, so we have loads to improve on heading into the Connacht championship. We know that.” Larkin offered his commiserations to Ballyhaunis: “They drive us on and we drive them on. We’re rivals on the pitch but today it was us who got over the line.” This is as local a derby as you can get. Ballyhaunis town and Tooreen village are just five miles apart and the vast bulk of the players on both teams attended secondary school together. Ballyhaunis were hoping to stop Tooreen’s gallop and reclaim the TJ Tyrell Cup they last won in a fine encounter in Tooreen back in 2020. So near and yet so far.
The opening half was a very balanced affair and it looked set to be that way on the scoreboard too heading into the break with the sides locked at 0-9 apiece with just four minutes remaining. Cormac Phillips hit six of those points for Ballyhaunis while Shane Boland hit four for Tooreen, with Brian Morley at centre-forward adding three from play. However, things turned in the visitors’ favour in the closing stages when they goaled two minutes from the break, with Eoin Delaney hitting a beautiful strike to the net. When the short whistle blew, they led 1-11 to 0-10.
The second-half became very stop-start with countless frees and this margin of lead was never increased or reduced until the game began to turn in favour of the home side with ten minutes to go. Tooreen led 1-16 to 0-16 at this stage but driven on by last year’s captain Brian Hunt, Ballyhaunis hit three unanswered points to draw level. Two of these came from frees by Cormac Phillips along with a Michael Farrell effort from play.
Tooreen did retake the lead, but all the action was at the other end. Two further splendidly struck frees in the 60th and 62nd minutes respectively by Phillips again swung the lead back into Ballyhaunis’ hands and on reflection, how close they were to victory. Just seconds remained on the clock but it was enough time for Tooreen to strike late in what was an unforgettable ending.
Afterwards, Tooreen captain Danny Huane accepted the TJ Tyrell Trophy to joyous scenes.
Scorers – Tooreen: Shane Boland 1-8 (0-7f), Eoin Delaney 1-1, Brian Morley 0-3, Sean Kenny 0-2f, Fergal Boland, Liam Lavin and David Delaney 0-1 each.
Ballyhaunis: Cormac Phillips 0-11 (9f, 1 ‘65), Ryan Kilbane and Adrian Phillips 0-2 each, Jack Coyne, Kieran McDermott (s/l), Eamon Phillips, Keith Higgins, Brian Hunt and Michael Farrell 0-1 each.
Ballyhaunis: Donal O’Brien; Brian Hunt, Mark Phillips, Shaun Morley; Diarmuid Phillips, Daniel Hill, Eoghan Collins; Jack Coyne, Jason Coyne; Kieran McDermott, Keith Higgins, Adrian Phillips; Cormac Phillips, Eamon Phillips, Ryan Kilbane. Subs: Michael Farrell (for E Phillips 43), Eoin Ryan (for D Phillips 52), James Lyons (for Higgins 53), E Phillips (for Jason Coyne 60+2-inj).
Tooreen: Bobby Douglas; Conal Hession, Stephen Coyne, Michael Morley; Joe Boyle, Oisin Greally, David Kenny; Danny Huane, Sean Kenny; Ciaran Finn, Brian Morley, Liam Lavin; Shane Boland, Fergal Boland, Eoin Delaney. Subs: David Delaney (for Finn 37), Kenny Feeney (for Kenny 47), Fionn Delaney (for B Morley 57).
REF: Eadhmonn Mac Suibhne (Kiltimagh)
