Incredible climax to battle of Breaffy and Belmullet

There was drama of the highest order on Saturday evening as Breaffy went from exiting the Mayo SFC to securing home advantage in the quarter-finals, all in the length of time it took Robbie Fadden’s kick to sail between the Belmullet posts in the dying seconds of this knife-edge encounter at James Stephens Park in Ballina.

There was time only for Belmullet goalkeeper Shane Nallen to take the next kickout, as Breaffy’s 0-14 to 0-13 win saw them leapfrog the Erris side at the top of Group 2 on the head-to-head rule. Had the match finished in a draw, Castlebar Mitchels, who enjoyed a comfortable win over Aghamore playing at the same time, would have advanced to the last eight on scoring difference instead of Breaffy.

The concession of that late point could prove costly for Belmullet who must now travel away from home for their quarter-final tie against one of the winners of the other three groups. But they have only themselves to blame really, as they went from leading 0-10 to 0-6 early in the second-half and with a strong breeze behind them, to raising only two more flags for the rest of the game, including Ryan O’Donoghue’s two point free.

But Breaffy were fortunate too; when Aidan O’Shea kicked them 0-5 to 0-2 ahead after thirteen minutes, that was the last score from play by any Breaffy forward for the entire game. And on any other day, Breaffy’s tally of eleven wides (Belmullet kicked one) could easily have come back to bite them too.

But that did indicate their dominance of the football for long stretches of this match, which was low in quality but full of intrigue.

A pair of first-half two pointers against the wind by Ryan O’Donoghue and goalkeeper Shane Nallen, from a free, had helped Belmullet into a 0-8 to 0-6 half-time lead.

Mayo midfielder Matthew Ruane, hampered by injury, had sat out the first-half for Breaffy but appeared for the second, while Belmullet, leading by two points at the time, were badly impacted by the withdrawal of Mayo defender Eoin O’Donoghue with a shoulder injury after 41 minutes.

Twice inside the final ten minutes the teams were level, an outcome that would not have suited Breaffy, until Conor and Aidan O’Shea, and Pierce Deane, all had a hand in a move that saw Robbie Fadden kick the crucial match-winning point in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

See Tuesday’s Western People for full coverage of this and all 22 matches in the Mayo senior, intermediate and junior football championships.