Knockmore end 23-year wait to claim county crown again
Knockmore are Connacht Gold Mayo senior football champions for 2020 following a 1-12 to 0-13 victory over Breaffy at Elverys MacHale Park, Castlebar, this afternoon.
Trailing by two points at the break – 1-2 to 0-7 – Knockmore put in a tremendous second-half display to wrest control away from a Breaffy team that looked capable of turning the screw at times, especially in a dominant second quarter.
At the end there was no denying Knockmore, however, as they fought incredibly hard to deny Breaffy any time on the ball in the second period.
It's a heartbreaking fourth county final defeat for Breaffy in less than a decade, and it may be the hardest one of all to recover from.
They got off to a jittery start as they fell behind 1-1 to no score by the eighth minute, Darren McHale with the Knockmore goal following superb work by Peter Naughton, but Breaffy recovered sufficiently to hold that two-point advantage by the break.
While McHale and Naughton were Knockmore's point-scorers in the first half, the eventual winners also kicked some bad wides when more composure was called for.
Breaffy took control in the second quarter, keeping Knockmore scoreless for over 20 minutes while kicking over six points in a row, three from Tommy O'Reilly (two frees), two from play from Matthew Ruane, and a monstrous score from Conor O'Shea.
After their early flurry, Knockmore found an increasingly combative Breaffy hard to break down, James Minogue and Dylan Cannon proving particularly staunch.
They had that good start to fall back on though, and it kept them well in contention with the second half still to play.
Breaffy stretched their lead early in the second half with an Aidan O'Shea point but Knockmore slowly started grinding away. Darren McHale scored two excellent points before Aidan Orme returned to the fray having been black-carded late in the first half.
Knockmore continued to come. Peter Naughton scored an advanced mark and while Tommy O'Reilly popped over a nice effort, McHale landed two fabulous points either side of a Keith Ruttledge point and suddenly they were two points to the good.
There was just one in it at the water break, O'Reilly with another free for Breaffy, but Knockmore weren't going to be denied as they matched their opponents stride for stride down the home stretch. Both sides tacked on points but Breaffy couldn't get through for the goal they badly needed as the likes of David McHale, Kieran King and Alan Stadler shut up shop.
“It's a long time since '97 but we're back,” said captain David McHale on accepting the Moclair Cup, the ninth time they have lifted it. You suspect it won't be 23 years before they lift it again.
*Pictured above, Aidan O'Shea of Breaffy is tackled by David McHale of Knockmore during the Connacht Gold Mayo county senior football championship final at Elverys MacHale Park. Photo: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile