Loftus leads as Cross book last eight spot
Louisburgh’s Oisin Lally tries to get past Crossmolina’s Jordan Flynn and Diarmuid Coggins. Picture: Conor McKeown
Crossmolina Deel Rovers booked their place in the last eight of the Mayo intermediate championship following a commanding six-point victory on Saturday evening in Westport.
Both sides traded scores early on, with James Maheady in inspired form for the North Mayo men, kicking two fine points from play. The critical moment of the game arrived in the 25th minute when senior Mayo footballer Conor Loftus drove straight through the heart of the Louisburgh defence and slipped the ball to Diarmaid Walsh who was bundled to the ground for a penalty. Loftus, wearing the number 11 jersey but situated at centre half-back, expertly dispatched the penalty to the roof of the Louisburgh net. This proved to be a lead that Crossmolina would not relinquish.
Louisburgh’s woes continued as Joe Dawson was forced off the field due to injury quickly after the Loftus penalty in what was a major blow. Dawson had been performing an excellent man-marking job on Crossmolina sharpshooter Fionnan Duffy but the forward grew in prominence following the first half injury to Dawson, kicking three excellent points from play.
With 47 minutes on the clock, former Connaught rugby man Dylan Prendergast kicked an inspirational score for Louisburgh to leave two between the sides. This was as good as it got for Louisburgh as they failed to score again for the remainder of the encounter.
Best on the evening for the west Mayo contingent included Dylan Prendergast and Basil McLeod. Prendergast kicked six points on the evening including three excellent scores from play, while McLeod impressed with his ‘never say die’ attitude and brought the fight to the North Mayo men at every given opportunity.
The knockout blow arrived with three minutes left to play on the clock as Niall Coggins stuck the ball in the back of Jason Corrigan’s net following a lung-bursting run from Conor Loftus, and there was to be no way back for the west Mayo men. The rest of the encounter was little more than a formality with Crossmolina racing out as six-point winners, confirming their position in the quarter-finals of the intermediate championship.
The debrief in Louisburgh will not make for pretty viewing. Louisburgh managed just 14 shots across the 65 minutes of this match, far below what is required to win a match at this level, and the West Mayo men are confined to the intermediate grade of Mayo club football for another year, while Crossmolina will face an away quarter-final in a fortnight.
The Deel men will be happy to have come away with a clean sheet yet Brian Benson and John Maughan will be acutely aware that improvement across the board is required if Crossmolina are to realise their ambitions of playing senior in 2025. Crossmolina gave away 20 fouls, many of which needless and converted just 54% of all point scoring opportunities on the evening and both areas will need to be addressed if their dream is to become a reality.
