Dates, times, venues and officials confirmed for Mayo senior hurling finals
Westport's Mel Kenny will be the man in the middle for the Connacht Gold Mayo Senior Hurling Final between Tooreen and Ballyhaunis. Picture: INPHO
This year's Connacht Gold Mayo GAA Senior ‘A’ Hurling Final between Tooreen and Ballyhaunis will be refereed by Westport official Mel Kenny, who officiates his first-ever Mayo GAA Senior Hurling Championship final.
Mel has vast experience in refereeing on the Mayo circuit and is one of only a few referees who officiate for Mayo GAA, Mayo LGFA and Mayo Camogie. Linesmen for this final are Castlebar duo Eoin Shaughnessy and Pat Conlon, while the fourth official on the day will be John Walker (Cill Chomain).
The game throws-in Sunday, October 12, at 4pm in Adrian Freeman Memorial Grounds in Tooreen and again a large crowd is expected for this East Mayo derby. Tooreen are reigning Mayo Senior and Connacht Intermediate Champions, but Ballyhaunis will be vying to win back the honours after a three-year absence.
The cup on offer is the TJ Tyrell Memorial Cup, named after the great Ballina Stephenites and Mayo GAA hurling administrator and coach, who died in 1998 at the age of 59.
The Connacht Gold Mayo GAA Senior ‘B’ Hurling final will be refereed by Sean O’Neill from the Balla GAA Club and he will be ably assisted by linesmen Eadhmonn MacSuibhne (Kiltimagh) and Joe Greaney (Moytura), with Tooreen’s Adrian Hession as the fourth official. Originally from Meath but now resident in Balla, Sean O’Neill has been on the hurling and camogie refereeing scene for a number of years now, and is also adept at refereeing at Gaelic Football and LGFA levels also.
The match will be played at 12.30pm on Saturday, October 12, in The Neale GAA Grounds in Cong, which sees a return of a Senior Hurling county final to Cong for the first time in over four decades.
St Ciarans are the reigning champions after defeating the same opposition in last year’s decider in Westport. The St Ciarans side draw their players from seven Junior clubs in the county namely Ballyvary, Westport, Ballina, Moytura, Claremorris, Caiseal Gaels and Gaeltacht Iorrais.
The cup on offer for the Senior ‘B’ final is the Martin O’Malley Memorial Cup, which was recently presented to Mayo GAA by the O’Malley family from Ballinrobe and the Moytura Hurling Club.
The inaugural cup is a memorial to a young Moytura hurler Martin O’Malley who died in 2009 at the age of 15 years. Martin played in the first ever Moytura U12 hurling match in 2006 on The Neale Pitch shortly after the club's formation, and it is fitting that the cup in his memory will be presented at the same venue.
