Westport’s famous breakthrough of 2022

The banks of the Carrowbeg were laden with emotion on the night of October 30, 2022 when Westport returned home with their first-ever Mayo Senior Football Championship.

In triumphing over Ballina, Westport had ended a 133-year wait since their foundation.

But, while Westport might be the third biggest town in Mayo and with a substantial hinterland including the parish of Aughagower, the reality is that for much of the club’s history, a senior title was not even on their radar.

The club have only operated at senior for a fraction of their existence, spending far more time at junior and intermediate.

A Division 1 league title in 1975, beating Garrymore in the final, was, for many, the high point of the club’s history prior to 2022.

They won junior county crowns in 1970, 1940 and another in 1924 as Attyreech. Amazingly, their maiden intermediate crown did not come until 2009 and they won their second intermediate in 2016.

Charlie Lambert was club chairman in 2022 and soldiered with the club as a rock-solid defender for over a decade. He still recoils at the memory of their West junior final loss (Westport’s first team) to Louisburgh in 1989.

“I can still see John Durcan (Louisburgh captain) lifting the cup over there in the corner of the pitch,” he recalls.

Showing how quickly fortunes can change, two years later, thanks to promotion through the leagues, Westport found themselves in the 1991 Mayo SFC final, their first senior decider. But a great Hollymount team were too good for them, winning 1-6 to 1-2.

However, they were back down to intermediate by 1995 and that 1991 final was beginning to look like a flash in the pan.

James Gill starring for the Mayo minors en route to an All-Ireland final loss in 1999 and with the Mayo seniors in their 2004 run is something many in the club see as pivotal. County representation for Westport players was sporadic but Gill showed what was possible.

Lee Keegan and Kevin Keane credit his example as key in their own development and both men, particularly former Footballer of the Year Keegan, have been key catalysts in the club’s current arc.

But there was a lot of work required.

Gill, Keegan and Keane played together on that 2009 intermediate winning team but, structurally, the club was still struggling. That same year, they were unable to field at minor grade.

“That was the lowest point in the barren years,” recalls Charlie Lambert. “A few of us in the club said ‘Jesus we have to do something here’. It used to hurt me so much. We were a laughing stock in the county.

“Westport was seen as a soccer town. We were competing at ‘B’ at underage. A few said ‘start at the bottom’ and start getting some sort of structure in place.” 

So they worked from Under 8s up, creating a pathway and getting as many good coaches involved. In 2012 they developed a plan which included winning a county senior title. It felt a long way away – a decade it would turn out.

Their 2016 intermediate success revealed some fruits of their labour, though. Teenagers who had come through a much higher standard of underage teams broke into that side and held down places. Among them, players who featured last Saturday like Paddy O’Malley, Niall McManamon, Brian O’Malley and Colm Moran.

They did not just win a Mayo IFC title that year but, like Crossmolina, went all the way to win the All-Ireland.

The final came at a huge cost to Kevin Keane though, tearing his cruciate knee ligament in the game. He tore his other one in 2021. That was the year that Westport lost a semi-final to Belmullet, underscoring how difficult a senior breakthrough was and is.

In 2022, Martin Connolly and Shane Conway, who had coached the vast majority of the players in Rice College, were joint managers.

“Martin and Shane and Rice College were a huge launchpad for this club,” said Kevin Keane.

After a dramatic last-second goal from Shane Scott saw them beat Castlebar Mitchels in the semi-final, Westport faced Ballina and triumphed 1-9 to 1-6.

Keane had made it back from his second cruciate injury a year previously to start that final. Substituted in the second-half, at the final whistle, Keane hugged his former teacher Shane Conway in an embrace full of emotion.

“Personally, with the year I had, fighting back, trying to get back and playing a part in it was unbelievable. Stuff you kind of dream of really,” he said.

Martin Connolly had been feeling the pressure in the build-up. He felt there were ‘a lot of people sharpening knives’ in the club if they didn’t win.

“For me personally, you aren’t going to get infinite chances. It is rare enough you get involved with a team that are that good. If you didn’t achieve it, the chances of doing it next year, you’re at the bottom of the hill… there was a sense of relief at having achieved the potential,” he said.

The iconic image from that final is Lee Keegan joyfully holding the Moclair Cup in front of his teammates. After so many near misses with Mayo, he was central to a big breakthrough with his club.

“It’s up there,” he admits when asked to compare with his career achievements. “I never judge my career by winning. It’s the few moments after winning a game… you don’t get moments too often where you go off into the sunset for a few days and have the craic. You look at the team, the management, your family and you just think, it really is worth the sacrifice, the pain, the torture, the long nights. But the wheel keeps turning. You want more.” 

Sunday presents that opportunity.

*The above interviews were conducted in 2024 for Edwin McGreal’s book Our Finest Hour – Mayo GAA clubs reflect on their glory days which is on sale in all good bookshops and online on mayobooks.ie.