Cillian’s suspension makes the opening task for Ballintubber a lot more difficult
Aghamore and Ballintubber faced each other as recently as late July in Division 1B. Ballintubber won by 1-7 to 0-6.
With the calibre of players in their squad, it would be foolish to rule out Ballintubber as contenders in this year’s Mayo Senior Football Championship but since going back-to-back in 2018 and 2019, they have fallen down the pecking order.
They were eliminated following an epic quarter-final against Castlebar Mitchels last year that went to extra time and it was a game they probably should have won. The last eight has been an obstacle Ballintubber have only breached once since their last title, reaching the last four in 2022 before being eliminated.
One of the first challenges new manager Tom Mulderrig has to negotiate is the absence of Cillian O’Connor. Inter-county football’s all-time leading scorer was sent off twice in last year’s Championship and is consequently suspended for the opening two games of this campaign.
Ballintubber will be looking towards the likes of Diarmuid O’Connor, Ciaran Gavin and Stephen O’Malley to muster up the points in these early games. They are well-stacked across the pitch with players like Jason Gibbons and Bryan Walsh.
Aghamore failed to make it past the group stages last year though to their credit, they came up against Knockmore and Castlebar Mitchels. They very nearly took a point off Mitchels who escaped with the win thanks to a very late Rory Byrne free. Combine that with a draw against Ballyhaunis and the east Mayo outfit were not too far reaching the last eight.
Fergal Boland is the star man for Aghamore and has broken back into the inter-county setup. He could not quite save them from dropping to Division 2 in the Senior League this year but there is enough about Aghamore to suggest that sneaking through this group is not beyond their capabilities. Conor Hunt and Tom O’Flaherty are two fine footballers and having Brendan Harrison back on the field gives their chances a boost.
It was closely fought when they played in the league back in July and without Cillian O’Connor, Aghamore will fancy getting something out of this.
Verdict: Draw
