Golden goals inspire Breaffy to West title
The Breaffy squad after their win against Tourmakeady in the West Mayo U16 'B' football championship final. Picture: John Moylette
Shay Golden was very much the ‘golden boy’ as his hat-trick delivered an U16 title for Breaffy last Thursday evening.
The pitch in Islandeady looked pristine as always and Breaffy played the football that matched the venue and glorious weather.
Tourmakeady were competitive over the hour and showed plenty of heart and gusto, with star corner-forward Cathal O Maolalla kicking ten points, eight from frees. But any chance of them getting back into this contest was denied by some inspired goalkeeping by Neil O’Brien and the woodwork as the Blue and White, led by Golden, Rhys Neary and Mayo minor star Conor Coghill, put paid to any comeback hopes held by Tourmak’.
The Gaeltacht boys, however, were the better side in the opening exchanges, with points from Eoghan O Seachnasaigh, Cathal O Maolalla, a free, and Seamus de Búrca putting them 0-3 to 0-1 after six minutes.
Breaffy began to stir however, and after Golden brought it back to a point from a free, he was then found by Coghill and fired in a thunderous shot past Maitiú O Dufaigh for his first goal of the evening.
He wouldn’t have to wait long for his second. The restart saw O Dufaigh’s kickout intercepted by Golden and he ran through to coolly finish, before following it up with another point to make it 2-3 to 0-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Tourmakeady were stunned and they nearly conceded a third goal only for O Dufaigh to deny Neary. O Maolalla stepped up for his side to score Tourmakeady’s first point in 14 minutes from a free and he added another three in the final ten minutes of the half, his last coming after another Golden point, to leave it 2-4 to 0-7 at the break.
Tourmakeady were unfortunate not to level after the restart when a quick free into Lúcás Mac Dhuarcháin created the space for Maidhc Óg Stundún. His shot beat the goalkeeper but came back off the woodwork.
O Maolall brought the gap back to two but the game would effectively be over in the next ten minutes. A great move involving Coghill and Mark Mulchrone was finished off by Golden for his hat-trick on 34 minutes. Breaffy would hit another 1-5 from here through Colm Clarke, Mark Mulchrone, Coghill, Golden (two) and Rhys Neary, whose goal helped to open up a 13-point lead going into the final quarter.
To Tourmakeady’s credit, they battled gamely and hit the next four scores through another three points by O Maolalla and one by Pilib Breathnach but after that rare slip in focus, Breaffy regrouped in the final quarter through three points by Coghill and one each by Neary and Ronan Loftus to put the gloss on an excellent team performance, with O Maolalla and Pádraig O Foghlú getting Tourmakeady’s final two scores late on.
Scorers – Breaffy: Shay Golden 3-5 (0-2f), Rhys Neary 1-1, Conor Coghill 0-4, Darragh Connor, Colm Clarke, Mark Mulchrone and Ronan Loftus 0-1 each.
Tourmakeady: Cathal O Maolalla 0-10 (8f), Eoghan O Seachnasaigh, Seamus de Búrca, Pilib Breathnach and Pádraig O Foghlú 0-1 each.
Breaffy: Neil O’Brien; Darren Casey, Eoghan Murray, Adam Jennings; Darragh Connor, Nevan Lynch, Aaron Rice; Conor Coghill, Ronan Loftus; Rian Fallon, Rhys Neary, Olivier Krawczyk; Mark Mulchrone, Shay Golden, Colm Clarke. Subs: Luke McDonald (for Krawczyk 47), David Collins (for Rice 55), Brian McDonnell, Jack Shelvin and Ruairc O’Brien (for Mulchrone, Connor and Golden 57).
Tourmakeady: Maitiú O Dufiagh; Adam O Luideáin, Lúcás O Raghallaigh, Tadhg O Foghlú; Seán O hÉanacháin, Lúcás MacDuarcáin, Adam Kurensky; Séan O hÓrain, Pilib Breathnach; Séamus de Búrca, Eoghan O Seachnasaigh, Pádraig O Foghlú; Conchubhar O Cinnéide, Tomas O Muineacháin, Cathal O Maolalla. Subs: Seán O Cualáin (for O Muineacháin 30), Maidhc Óg Stundún (for O Cinneide ht), Maitiú O hÉanacháin (for de Búrca 51), Donal O Dufaigh (for M Óg Stundún 54), Máirtín Tomás Seoighe (for Kurensky 58).
REF: Walter Doherty (Balla)
