The north has risen once again in Mayo club football
TYNAN'S TAKE: By Stuart Tynan
MAKE no mistake about it, there has been a power shift in recent years.
For almost a decade, it wouldn't have taken a seasoned observed to see it would be one of Ballintubber of Castlebar Mitchels that would walk away with the Moclair Cup. But the dominance of west Mayo looks to have a made a move upwards as there is an all north Mayo final following a dramatic weekend of action.
Listening to Midwest commentary of the Garrymore and Knockmore encounter on Saturday evening, you might have thought the biggest shock of them all was on the cards. Garrymore were still leading the defending champions midway into the second half but Knockmore's strength in depth came to the fore as Keith Ruttledge and Liam Durkan swung the contest in Knockmore's favour in a blistering 20 minute spell.
The real shock came the following afternoon as Belmullet reached their first senior final in 40 years at the expense of red-hot favourites Westport. But is it a shock? We saw in the group stages following their win over Knockmore that Belmullet were capable of going far. Despite that win, very few outside the Erris region gave them much over a Westport outfit that looked like their time was finally coming.
Belmullet were fabulous and they may just have one of the best players in the country, never mind Mayo, in Ryan O'Donoghue. The man simply looked unplayable at times.
Meanwhile, my pick for the intermediate championship, Ballyhaunis, reached a second final in three years after proving too strong for Louisburgh. They will face off against arguably the team of the intermediate championship, Mayo Gaels, after taking down Kilmaine. A big story coming from that game is that it's looking quite likely that it'll be the last we see of Oisin Mullin before he departs for Australia to play football Down Under. It's a bitter blow to Kilmaine and Mayo but opportunities like this are once in a lifetime. If he does make the jump, he is wished all the best.
I was down in McGovern Park on Saturday afternoon to see the junior A semi-final between Islandeady and Kilmeena and you have to say Kilmeena were a class above Islandeady.
It was built as a game between the two best sides in the junior A championship but Kilmeena were head and shoulders above their opponents. Cill Chomáin now await, but I think Kilmeena will have far too much for them.
*You can read Stuart's full column every Tuesday in our print edition.