Life’s a breach: Mayo beaten at death in FBD decider

A 20-metre free awarded in the very last seconds of stoppage time for a breach of the halfway line by Mayo resulted in the point that earned Galway the 2026 FBD Connacht SFL title, at Tuam Stadium, on Sunday afternoon.

Mayo had fought from seven points behind at half-time to lead by one in time added on, but points by substitute Liam Ó Conghaile and Rob Finnerty, from the last-gasp free, left the scoreboard reading 2-12 to 1-14 in favour of the hosts at full-time.

Neither line-up bore much resemblance to what will be expected to feature when the same counties clash in next Sunday’s opening round of National Football League Division 1, but the Tribesmen will enjoy the mini bragging rights for now.

If you had been told after 10 minutes that Mayo would trail at half-time by seven points, you’d have scarcely believed it such was their early dominance. Trouble was, it was a dominance that yielded only two points, scored by Fenton Kelly and Darragh Joyce.

The conversion of just five out of thirteen scoring attempts was Mayo’s downfall in the opening 30 minutes, as goals by Oisin McDonagh and Brian Cogger, and the game’s first two-pointer by Kieran Molloy, saw Galway led 2-6 to 0-5 at the turnaround, in front of an estimated attendance of 3,000.

Mayo’s accuracy improved dramatically after half-time, with Cian McHale reeling off five points before forced off with a head wound. Allied with points by subs Paul Towey and Fergal Boland and a wonderful long-range point by Jack Carney, Mayo had narrowed their arrears to three points when Adam Barrett levelled matters from the penalty spot, after a foul on John McGonagle.

Stephen Coen kicked the visitors in front with 56 on the clock, however, Galway ended an 18 minute scoreless spell with those two late points that saw them lift the silverware.

See Tuesday’s Western People for full coverage.