Mayo club championship Saturday roundup: the north rises, goals galore in West Mayo
Ballaghaderreen’s Luke O’Grady races past Paul Gilmore of Claremorris during the Mayo SFC Rd 1 tie at Ballaghaderreen this evening Picture: David Farrell Photography
There was no shortage of talking points from today's action in the Mayo Club Championship.
The shock of the championship so far took place in the county town, as Belmullet defeated Castlebar Mitchels 1-15 to 0-12 in the Senior Championship. Ryan O'Donoghue was the star of the show, kicking 1-9, and his goal early in the second half left Mitchels with too big a mountain to climb.
Two other games took place in Senior. Westport held off the brave challenge of Mayo Gaels to record a 1-18 to 1-13 victory. It was 0-6 apiece at the break, but Tom Lambert's goal for Westport gave them the platform to drive on in the second half.
The final game saw Ballaghaderreen play out a humdinger against Claremorris, as last year's semi-finalists defeated Claremorris 2-18 to 1-7. Despite two first half goals from Ballagh', Claremorris led by two points at half-time but a fourteen-point second half haul was enough for Patrick Sharkey's side to secure the win.
There were goals aplenty in the two Intermediate championship games. The concession of three first half goals gave Louisburgh too high a mountain to climb in the second half against Hollymount-Carramore, who never looked like letting their strong lead slip in the second half hour of play, winning 3-7 to 0-10.
Kilmeena came from five points behind at the break to defeat West Mayo neighbours Burrishoole 3-17 to 1-11. They scored 3-10 in the second half, with a brace coming from corner-forward Daniel Kelly.
One of the more bizarre games took played in North Mayo, as Ballycastle defeated rivals 0-11 to 0-8 in the Junior championship. The black and red led 0-9 to 0-0 at half-time, with a gale force wind affecting proceedings. Killala reeled Ballycastle in late on, but they never looked like mounting a comeback.
The wind was also a factor in the other Junior game, as Tourmakeady defeated Northern Gaels 1-17 to 0-14. Leading by seven at the break, they kept Gaels at arms length in the second half in spite of a trio of Gaels two-pointers.
