Gaels blow Claremorris away for O'Mara Cup triumph
Mayo Gaels, 2025 O'Mara Cup champions. Picture: Helen Reapy
Mayo Gaels finished strongly to claim the O’Mara Cup in the backyard of their opponents Claremorris last Friday evening Claremorris, who did not have James McCormack, Conor Diskin or Mayo U20 duo Rio Mortimer and Paul Gilmore involved, trailed only by four points as the final ten minutes approached. They brought on another of the under-20 starlets Darragh Beirne early in the second half to try and swing the game in their momentum, but Andrew Quinn’s goal on 50 minutes saw no way back for the home side, as the Gaels blew Claremorris away in the closing stages to claim the silverware.
The game appeared it would take on a much different complexion after the opening ten minutes as Claremorris led 0-5 to 0-1. Mark Maloney and Conor McGuinness opened the scoring for Kevin Beirne’s side, with the only score for Mayo Gaels coming from the Padraig Jennings, who could have got more as he barreled down on goal.
The Gaels were racking up the wide count early, with five in the opening ten minutes, as James Shaughnessy and the first two-pointer of the game, coming from McGuinness, extended their lead to four.
That score from outside the arc was the last for Claremorris until just before the break as Mayo Gales struck 1-5 without reply through a trio of points from John Gallagher – two coming from frees- and one each from Padraig Jennings and Adam Gallagher.
The goal arrived in the middle of that scoring spree on 18 minutes. Ethan Henry’s ‘garryowen’ landed on the edge of the square and Jack Fallon got in ahead of Claremorris goalkeeper Daragh Fallon to palm it into the empty net.
Shaughnessy’s point a minute before half-time brought it back to three, 1-6 to 0-6, but Gaels doubled their lead inside six minutes of the second half. Ethan Henry raised a white flag seconds after the restart, John Gallagher tagged on his fourth point before Kevin Lynch danced through the Claremorris backline to fist the ball between the posts.
A brilliant two-pointer from Shaughnessy and a single from McGuinness brought it back to three again before the Gaels almost fortuitously got a second goal. A free from John Gallagher came off the post and dropped into the hands of Ryan McGurrin, but he elected to take the point.
Mark Maloney got his second to make it a three-point game again as the game went into the final quarter but once again, another scoring blitz would put paid to blue and white hopes. Jack Fallon tagged on a point before a brilliant, angled run by Andrew Quinn saw him create the space and he finished with aplomb past Daragh Fallon.
Ronan Commons and Mikey Mullins traded points, the latter the last score of the evening for Claremorris on 52 minutes, as further scores from John Gallagher (free), Sean Keane, Adam Gallagher and Padraig Jennings racked up an impressive 11-point win and the cup.
