Dark horses Breaffy upset the odds again

Mayo SFC Semi-Final

Breaffy 1-9

Castlebar Mitchels 0-10

Anthony Hennigan at Fr O’Hara Park, Charlestown 

For the first time in at least a decade, Breaffy entered this year’s championship with zero outside expectation that they would seriously challenge for the Moclair Cup. Now they stand just one game from lifting the trophy for the first time in their history.

Already this month the club has celebrated its 70th anniversary; could it be the club ends this month by marking the milestone in the most fitting way imaginable?

Certainly Konrad Coghill’s side is playing with a style that indicates the players feel unburdened by Breaffy’s four county senior final defeats since 2013. To have scuttled the title aspirations of heavyweights Westport, the champions, and now Castlebar Mitchels, in the past two rounds, conceding a goal against neither, is exactly the sort of form that suggests you should write them off at your peril.

Mitchels never led the 2/1 underdogs in Saturday’s clash in Charlestown but when, in just seven minutes, they struck five unanswered points from play to level the match twelve minutes into the second-half, it seemed as though all the momentum was with Barry Moran and Neil Lydon’s team. Remarkably, however, the townies would tag on just one further point for the remainder of the contest.

That malaise in front of the posts stretched all the way back to the first-half; Castlebar Mitchels had kicked eight wides before half-time, four of them by Neil Douglas who was replaced for the second-half by Ethan Gibbons, a player quick to make his point to management when scoring two of them inside five minutes of the restart. James Durcan was also introduced at half-time but didn’t impact the match in any meaningful way. The former Mayo attacker did have the very last kick of the game, an attempt to score a winning goal from 20-metres through a crowd of bodies, but the ball flashed left and referee Liam Devenney’s whistle sparked the sort of scenes normally reserved for the final itself.

Not for the first time, Aidan O’Shea was the catalyst for Breaffy’s success. The most talked about Mayo footballer did all his talking with the ball, swinging over four points and having a direct involvement in almost every other one of his side’s scores, the game’s only goal included.

Breaffy led 0-6 to 0-3 at the interval but Ethan Gibbons had just pulled a point back when the Blues raised their green flag on 35 minutes. Matthew Ruane popped a ball into the top left corner where Aidan O’Shea turned and brushed past his marker, county teammate Donnacha McHugh, before handpassing inside to the onrushing Rory Martyn whose swift offload resulted in Davitt Neary palming the ball over Castlebar goalkeeper Rory Byrne and into the net.

Breaffy’s five points lead was erased in jig-time though, as Gibbons, Paddy Durcan, Bob Tuohy, twice, and Donie Newcombe all kicked points for Mitchels who, with the aid of a stiff breeze, were now running hard and direct at their West Mayo neighbours.

Breaffy had the sniff of a second goal when substitute Colm Flynn was picked out by Conor O’Shea, who had moved into full-forward in a swap with brother Aidan, but a great covering block by wing-forward Ultan O’Reilly maintained parity. Not for long though.

Aidan O’Shea nailed a brilliant free which had been earned by his brother Conor, and Aidan won one himself for Colm Flynn to score, which moved Breaffy into a 1-8 to 0-9 lead with 51-minutes elapsed. Sub Conor Stenson, from 40-metres, drew Castlebar to within one but from similar distance, the post denied Paddy Heneghan from equalising. Then, only three minutes after his introduction, Castlebar substitute Aidan Walsh was black carded for ramming into Robert Fadden.

There was five minutes of stoppage time for Mitchels to rescue themselves but the only score came at the other end, as a counterattack by James Minogue, who made a big impression off the bench during the final quarter, and Colm Flynn resulted in Daire Morrin ghosting up the left wing to slide the ball between the uprights and secure a famous win.

Mitchels will rue midfielder Bob Tuohy, despite his pair of points, appearing badly hindered by injury from the midpoint of the first-half, and their inaccurate shooting, given they struck as many wides as points. They had five misses, four wides and one short, before Gavin Durcan and Paddy Durcan kicked their first points, in the 13th and 17th minutes. That had levelled the game after early Breaffy points by Rory Martyn and Aidan O’Shea, a free, but two more O’Shea points, an excellent one from play included after a give-and-go with Davitt Neary, left the scoreboard reading 0-4 to 0-2 after 26-minutes.

Neil Douglas drilling a dead centre 25-metre free wide off-the-ground sucked huge energy from Mitchels and while Paddy Heneghan did pare back a lovely point from distance, Breaffy rounded off the first-half with points by Oisin Tunney, after lovely combination play between the O’Sheas and Mattie Ruane, and goalkeeper Jack Livingstone from a ’45 derived from Daire Morrin’s blocked goal chance.

A three points interval cushion would prove just enough.

Morrin and fellow joint captain Michael Hall, who looked to have tweaked a hamstring only two weeks earlier against Westport, from the half-back line together inspired another superbly united Breaffy performance. They’ll believe the steps of MacHale Park are theirs for the climbing.

Scorers – Breaffy: Aidan O’Shea 0-4 (3f), Davitt Neary 1-0, Rory Martyn, Jack Livingstone (’45), Oisin Tunney, Colm Flynn (f) and Daire Morrin 0-1 each.

Castlebar Mitchels: Paddy Durcan, Bob Tuohy and Ethan Gibbons 0-2 each, Gavin Durcan, Paddy Heneghan, Donie Newcombe and Conor Stenson 0-1 each.

Breaffy: Jack Livingstone; Conor Beirne, Mark Dervan, Conor Melly; David Livingstone, Michael Hall, Daire Morrin; Conor O’Shea, Matthew Ruane; Davitt Neary, Robert Fadden, Rory Martyn; Tommy O’Reilly, Aidan O’Shea, Oisin Tunney. Subs: Colm Flynn (for O’Reilly 41), James Minogue (for Tunney 51), Colm Kelly (for C O’Shea 60+4).

Castlebar Mitchels: Rory Byrne; Mark Dolan, Donnacha McHugh, Sean Morahan; Michael Fahy, Joe Tuohy, Donie Newcombe; Paddy Durcan, Bob Tuohy; Ultan O’Reilly, Paddy Heneghan, Anthony O’Boyle; Mark Cunningham, Gavin Durcan, Neil Douglas. Subs: Ethan Gibbons and James Durcan (for Douglas and Dolan ht), Conor Stenson (for O’Boyle 36), Aidan Walsh (for M Cunningham 57).

REF: Liam Devenney (Ballina Stephenites)