Showdown between Belmullet and Breaffy set for national attention
Belmullet team management discuss tactics during half time of the Mayo GAA Connacht Gold SFC at Knockmore last Friday evening. Picture: David Farrell Photography
The last time TG4 did a live broadcast of a Mayo club championship game featuring Belmullet, they were the side story as a certain teenager from Crossmolina named Kobe became known nationwide.
But they are the main attraction on this occasion. Between the heroics of the Footballer of the Year in-waiting Ryan O’Donoghue for Mayo to the legendary celebrations up in Belmullet following Mayo’s All-Ireland win, you can see why national television wants this game live.
But for Belmullet and Breaffy, a place in the quarter-finals of the Mayo senior championship is at stake and both clubs are going into this one off the back of eye-opening wins.
For the second year in a row, Belmullet went to one of the big guns in Mayo club football and came away with victory. Matters looked a bit bleak at half-time, with Shane Nallen’s ’45 their only score of an opening 30 minutes that included a missed penalty from Ryan O’Donoghue.
Ryan put that miss behind him with a stunning pair of two-pointers to lead the comeback, with goals by Eamon McAndrew and Fionn O’Donoghue, the latter a penalty in injury-time, seeing the Erris men pick up an important win.
Breaffy have been the perennial bridesmaids in Mayo senior football for far too long, and time will tell whether a long wait for a Moclair Cup ends this year. But how they saw off Ballaghaderreen with a bit to spare was worth taking note of.
Sean Deane’s men went for two-pointers almost at will and were rewarded with a magnificent seven in return. From Jack Livingstone’s trio of boomers to Aidan O’Shea’s sweetly struck sideline effort, it put Breaffy in full control. Weather conditions in Tallagh can take on a life of their own, but if Breaffy maintain their accuracy they can pull off a win in a venue few visiting teams get much joy.
Indeed, the last time these two met in the club championship was last year, where a late Breaffy winner saw them top the group at Belmullet’s expense. What the men in blue and while would give for a similar outcome. Whether it is likely is another story.
