Towey the tormentor as ‘Town relegate men of Kiltane

Mayo SFL Division 1 Relegation Playoff 

Charlestown 1-17 

Kiltane 1-10 

Anthony Hennigan at Fr O’Hara Park, Charlestown 

Playing for almost 40 minutes with one man less was of little hindrance to Charlestown Sarsfields who made sure of their Division 1 status for 2025 with a quite comfortable victory over Kiltane on Saturday evening. Added to the disappointment of relegation for the visitors was that talisman Mikie Sweeney and centre-back Nathan Ginnelly exited the game with injuries. Sweeney’s looked the more serious, with the ex-Mayo attacker chaired from the pitch just two minutes into the second-half after over-extending himself during a charge at the heart of the Charlestown defence. His potential absence for the upcoming championship would be sorely felt by a team who raised just one white flag from play for the entirety of Saturday’s clash at Fr O’Hara Park.

In contrast, Charlestown had Mayo star Paul Towey in flying form. The significance of the full-forward’s return, and that of corner-forward Jack Mahon too, could not be overstated, as they hit 1-8 and 0-4 respectively, 1-6 of which was from play. Towey smashed another goal chance against the crossbar and kicked four wides as well, despite the determined defensive efforts of Kiltane full-back Shane Gallagher who stuck so manfully to his task, that he even waited just inside the gate of the pitch to meet Towey upon his return from the dressing-room for the start of the second-half.

It was Paul Towey who kicked his side’s opening four points, the middle pair from frees, and those were added to by Paddy Goldrick and Jack Mahon, a mark, before a foul on the latter resulted in Towey converting his third free and giving Charlestown a 0-7 to 0-1 lead after 17 minutes.

Ultan Corrigan, who had scored Kiltane’s only point so far from a free, repeated the trick in the 19th minute, but a couple of other misses were to see those duties bestowed on Ben Donoghue from thereon. The game took a swing in the Erris side’s direction however, when Owen Doherty delivered a fine ball into John Ginty who rolled Charlestown full-back Tomás Goldrick and fired a goal into the bottom right corner of Paddy Walsh’s net.

Things got even better for Kiltane in the 24th minute when the home side’s centre-back Jack Corley received a straight red card. Referee Shane Corcoran initially dealt with the off-the-ball incident by booking Kiltane corner-forward Mikey Doran but after the intervention of linesman Jon Finn, then sent-off Corley.

Charlestown’s response was defiant, with Towey, a free, and Matt Lenehan, whose powerful running was a major weapon, kicking points that left the scoreboard reading 0-9 to 1-2 before Ben Donoghue pulled one point back from a free to leave Kiltane trailing by three at the break.

The North Mayo men had reason to approach the second-half with confidence, not only because of their numerical advantage but because there was a significant breeze in their favour, but the loss of Mikie Sweeney so early after the restart was a massive body blow. So too when Charlestown’s opening score of the half turned out to be a goal for Paul Towey, who benefited from the work of Jack Brennan, Ruairí Cullen and Matthew Lenehan in the build-up.

Donoghue did kick a pair of frees during the third quarter for Kiltane but points by Jack Mahon, two, and the onrushing full-back Tomás Goldrick saw the Greens lead by seven points, 1-12 to 1-5, after 46-minutes, with Paul Towey also unfortunate to crack a piledriver against the crossbar.

Kiltane didn’t die and both Rory Ginty and Owen Doherty forced goalkeeper Paddy Walsh into action, in the 49th and 50th minutes, with their own ‘keeper Darragh Carey scoring a ’45 off one of his counterpart’s saves. But that point was negated by a Towey free, and another Ben Donoghue point from a free was cancelled out by Jack Mahon, before Kiltane midfielder Martin Gallagher stormed forward to finally shoot his side’s only point of the game from play. It was added to by Carey’s second ’45, but that still left the visitors trailing by five entering six minutes of stoppage time.

Charlestown wing-forward Alan Woods traded a point with Ben Donoghue, Kiltane’s last, with the hosts rounding off their evening – and ensuring top-flight survival – with two excellent points from play by Paul Towey and Gareth O’Donnell.

Scorers – Charlestown: Paul Towey 1-8 (0-5f), Jack Mahon 0-4 (1m), Matthew Lenehan, Paddy Goldrick, Tomás Goldrick, Alan Woods and Gareth O’Donnell 0-1 each.

Kiltane: Ben Donoghue 0-5f, John Ginty 1-0, Ultan Corrigan 0-2f, Martin Gallagher 0-1.

Charlestown: Paddy Walsh; Niall Drudy, Tomás Goldrick, Fergal Quinn; Bob Conway, Jack Corley, Jack Brennan; Gareth O’Donnell, Paddy Goldrick; Alan Woods, Ruairí Cullen, Matthew Lenehan; Paddy Lenehan, Paul Towey, Jack Mahon. Sub: Owen Flannery (for P Goldrick 46).

Kiltane: Darragh Carey; Michael Needham, Shane Gallagher, Anthony Coyle; Rory Ginty, Nathan Ginnelly, Charlie Ginnelly; Owen Doherty, Martin Gallagher; Ultan Corrigan, Mikie Sweeney, Ben Donoghue; Aaron Barrett, John Ginty, Mikey Doran. Subs: Padraic Carey (for Sweeney 32, inj), Fionn McDonagh (for N Ginnelly 42).

REF: Shane Corcoran (Islandeady)