Golden Garrymore give it extra to bridge44-year gap
Garrymore and Belmullet players contest the ball at midfield during last Sunday's Mayo GAA Connacht Gold SFC semi-final at James Stephens Park, Ballina. Pictures: David Farrell Photography
‘An Rud is Annamh is Iontach’ is what came to mind on Sunday afternoon as members of the Garrymore panel celebrated booking their place in this year’s Connacht Gold Senior Football Championship final, the club's first since 1982.
They did so at the expense of Belmullet with both sides playing their part in a semi-final that had it all. Goals, two pointers with a tricky swirling breeze and extra-time, brought about in part by Gary Golden’s incredible late goal, was just some of what was on offer at James Stephens Park.
Ryan O’Donoghue landed the first blow for Belmullet with only two minutes on the clock as he scored a curling two pointer from deep. Darren Quinn responded for Garrymore by raising a white flag, but this was quickly met by Eoin O’Donoghue raising Belmullet’s second orange flag at the opposite end. Quinn replied again for Garrymore by curling over a two pointer from a tight angle, which some in attendance on Sunday deemed the score of the championship.
With only twelve minutes played Belmullet found their third two pointer as Ryan O’Donoghue intercepted a pass out of the Garrymore defence right on the two-point arc before splitting the posts. Quinn’s fourth came from a free on fourteen minutes to leave Belmullet two ahead with the first quarter played.
Garrymore were impressive in the aerial battle but had little answer for when Fionn O’Donoghue ventured out the middle for kickouts. His first point came off the back of fielding a kickout before interlinking with Seamus Howard to raise a white flag. Mark Gibbons quickly replied with a couple of singles from play, coming on the loop both times to curl over.
Ryan O’Donoghue added a further couple in the following minutes to edge Belmullet three ahead. But three became one as the game entered injury time with Andy Glennon mirroring Quinn’s earlier two pointers from a free.
Belmullet, however, may have felt that their lead should have been greater as they had the ball in the net in the opening half, but referee Frank Flynn deemed foul play prior to Eoin O’Donoghue punching the ball into the back of the Garrymore net.
Ciaran Lavelle’s troops got straight back to it after the interval and doubled their lead with Anthony Barrett selling a dummy off his right before curling over off his left. Enda Hession was busy creating and disrupting for the first-half but added his first point of the afternoon with 36 on the clock after a jinking run through the Belmullet defence. A minute later his side had their first lead.
Cathal Slattery won a turnover on the Belmullet '45, carried the ball through the heart of the opposition's defence and played through Gibbons who finished coolly with a low shot into the back of the net. The men from North Mayo almost had the perfect reply but Fionn O’Donoghue’s effort only hit Brian Lynskey’s post. He would find the net minutes later but not before both sides’ number fourteens traded singles, with Ryan O’Donoghue converting a free and Slattery raising a white flag from play.
Riain Concannon couldn’t be stopped despite the efforts of numerous Garrymore defenders, and he found Fionn O’Donoghue who finished the ball to the back of the net to edge Belmullet back into a one point lead. Goalkeeper Shane Nallen ventured forward to extend this lead to three as he drove over a two point free off the deck.
The game was level for the first time since the second minute with only four to play as Gary Golden found the back of the net. Shane Nallen rose to claim Quinn’s attempted shot but heavy pressure on the Belmullet goalie saw the ball fall into the path of Golden who punched home.
Belmullet edged ahead once again as the game entered injury time with Ryan O’Donoghue at hand with his eighth point, punishing a breach to leave Garrymore under pressure for an equaliser. Their equaliser came in the 63rd minute with substitute Trevor Nally pointing from close range. 1-14 to 2-11 meant extra-time in Ballina.
Belmullet began the extra period with fourteen men as Colin Barrett had the remainder of his black card to see out in the sin bin. Garrymore capitalised on their numerical advantage with Eoin McGreal and Jamie Hession both pointing within the opening three minutes. Fionn O’Donoghue rounded off the first-half of extra time’s scoring with a super solo effort, catching a kickout, soloing up the field and splitting the posts by himself. This left Garrymore ahead by a single point as they swapped ends for the second extra period.
They quickly extended their lead to three with Trevor Nally landing a great two pointer on the spin from the opening play. Gibbons rounded off his tally of 1-3 for the afternoon by raising a white flag leaving Belmullet with four points to find and five minutes to find them.
Three of them came in the 78th minute when Fionn O’Donoghue’s fielding ability was on show again for his second goal. He rose highest to fetch Eoin O’Donoghue’s long ball into the Garrymore defence, and he turned and rifled the ball into the roof of the goal. But despite their best efforts, Belmullet couldn’t penetrate Garrymore’s defence and the men from South Mayo held out for a one-point victory and a long-awaited ticket back to the Mayo county final.
Belmullet: Ryan O’Donoghue 0-2-4 (3f), Fionn O’Donoghue 2-0-2, Shane Nallen (1tpf) and Eoin O’Donoghue 0-1-0 each, Anthony Barrett 0-0-1.
Garrymore: Mark Gibbons 1-0-3, Darren Quinn 0-1-2 (1tpf, 1f), Gary Golden 1-0-0, Trevor Nally 0-1-1, Andy Glennon 0-1-0, Cathal Slattery 0-0-2, Enda Hession and Eoin McGreal 0-0-1 each.
Garrymore: Brian Lynskey; Colin Commins, Jamie Oates, Justin Commins; Patrick Hession, Liam Óg Horkan, Eoin McGreal; Gary Golden, Aaron Hughes; Enda Hession, Andy Glennon, Shane Nally; Darren Quinn, Cathal Slattery, Mark Gibbons. Subs: Trevor Nally (for S Nally), Jamie Hession (for P Hession), Caolan Crowe (for Slattery).
Belmullet: Shane Nallen; Riain Concannon, Colin Barrett, James Lavelle; James Ivers, Eoin O’Donoghue, Padraic Cowman; James Kelly, Seamus Howard; Jamie Reilly, Eamon McAndrew, Dara Padden; Fionn O’Donoghue, Ryan O’Donoghue, Anthony Barrett. Subs: James O’Donnell (for Reilly), Darragh Dixon (for McAndrew), Jack Lynch (for Padden).
REF: Frank Flynn (Aghamore)
