Goals unlock the door to victory for Naomh Padraig
Four goals, one for each club under the Naomh Padraig banner, brought home the North Mayo title at the expense of a Ballina Stephenites side that, by the time the first-half had concluded, looked the stronger of the teams. A dramatic conclusion to this game however, saw just a point between the teams with five minutes left, with Naomh Padraig hanging on to their lead to secure a trophy for themselves in the process.
Ballina Stephenites opened the scoring in the fourth minute through Cian Harrison, after nice link up down the left with Donnacha McCarthy who hand-passed into Harrison who dummied through into space and fired over. Naomh Padraig’s Jack O’Donnell replied to level matters, beating two defenders and sending the ball high over from close range.
An overlapping run from full-back Robert Young saw him fire over for Ballina, Eoin Golden’s kick pass allowing Cian Fitzpatrick to set up the shot, but Matthew Carroll had the first of the Naomh Padraig goals in the 10th minute, pressing the kickout from Luke Langan and blocking it to the floor, rolling in the loose ball to send his side two ahead.
Marauding wing-back Oscar Moore had a fruitful day joining in with the Ballina attack, and got his first of three points when receiving a handpass from Conor Casey to kick over from the left wing. Craig Ferguson, a goal-scorer in the North U16 ‘A’ final a week before, then tied the teams with a great point on the turn, from the right side. A third straight Ballina point came from Cian Fitzpatrick before the Stephenites opened up a four-point gap through the opportunistic Blair O’Hora, who returned Naomh Padraig goalkeeper Jack Barrett’s handpass out of goal straight to the net with his fist.
Oscar Moore doubled his tally with a point before Naomh Padraig finally replied through a Jack O’Donnell free. Eoghan McNulty punished a turnover from Naomh Padraig when curling over an easy score but a stunning long-range free from O’Donnell kept the trailing side in touching distance.
On the brink of half-time, a huge goal from Naomh Padraig midfielder Gavin Walsh cut the gap to just a singular point. Alexander Smyth had won a Ballina kickout and the wing-back, who was in fantastic form, released Matthew Carroll who squared the ball across to Walsh, who moved left to right across goal before slotting home.
The drama continued when play resumed and Craig Ferguson’s second point send the Green and Red back into a two points lead, which became three when Eoin Golden’s close range free sailed over. But once again Naomh Padraig found it within themselves to level. Conor Tomas was away down the left side and his attempt at a point rather fortuitously dropped short and slipped past netminder Luke Langan, bringing the inseparable pair level once more.
Halfway through the second period, Jack O’Connell made it back-to-back goals for an ascending Naomh Padraig. Great play from Matthew Carroll and full-forward Andrew Gallagher saw the latter bearing down on goal, and he passed sideways towards Smyth. The wing-back’s shot was saved but O’Donnell was on hand to send the rebound into the net.
Oscar Moore made it a hat-trick of points for himself, and Fitzpatrick’s second point clawed Ballina back to within the minimum. However, a late run of three points, two from Gavin Walsh and one from Matthew Carroll, sealed a dramatic victory – and a precious North Mayo title – for the Killala-Ballycastle-Kilfian-Lacken amalgamation.
Scorers – Naomh Padraig: Jack O’Donnell 1-3 (0-2f), Gavin Walsh 1-2 (0-1f, 0-1 ’45), Matthew Carroll 1-1, Conor Tomas 1-0 Ballina Stephenites: Blair O’Hora 1-0, Oscar Moore 0-3, Cian Fitzpatrick and Craig Ferugson 0-2 each, Eoin Golden (f), Eoghan McNulty, Cian Harrison and Robert Young 0-1 each.
Naomh Padraig: Jack Barrett; Caelan Loughney, Ryan O’Donnell, Jack Doherty; Alexander Smyth, Johnny Lynn, Brayden Murray-Nolan; Conn Petrie, Gavin Walsh; Adam Maughan, Matthew Carroll, Conor Tomas; Jack O’Donnell, Andrew Gallagher, Michael Ruddy. Subs: John Maughan, Kieran McAndrew, Sean Tighe, Liam Heffron.
Ballina Stephenites: Luke Langan; Donnacha Forde, Robert Young, Levi Humber; Conan Casey, Conor Moore, Oscar Moore; Cian Fitzpatrick, Cian Harrison; Conor Casey, Eoin Golden, Craig Ferguson; Eoghan McNulty, Blair O’Hora, Donnacha McCarthy. Subs: Sam O’Connell, Mark Healy, Peter Baynes.
REF: Mick Herr (Crossmolina)
