Knockmore kick on but many challengers emerge
THERE was no shortage of talking points as the Mayo senior football championship swung into action at the weekend.
The headline makers included Knockmore who got the defence of their title and their bid for a three-in-a-row off to a good start against Aghamore, while Castlebar Mitchels had to withstand a stunning rally from Charlestown before hanging on for a one-point win to join Garrymore as group leaders following their impressive win over Davitts in Group 4.
The standout result from the weekend was Westport’s win over The Neale, who could only manage 0-3 as Westport went on a 3-23 scoring spree, and what a game we have this Saturday as Ballintubber, who also got their championship off to a winning start against Mayo Gaels (1-16 to 0-7), head to Westport in a match likely to decide the winners of the group.
Ballaghaderreen put a spanner in the works of Ballina Stephenites who needed a late point from Conor McStay to share the spoils in that encounter in what is a very tough Group 2, the clash of Ballina and Knockmore this Sunday at 2 p.m. likely to draw a big crowd to James Stephens Park, while Ballaghaderreen will be heading to Aghamore with a lot of confidence following that performance against Ballina.
The other stand-out game this coming weekend sees Castlebar Mitchels travel to Ballindine where a win over Davitts would put them in a very strong position but Mitchels, who are already without the injured James Durcan, will be hoping that a few other injury worries, which include Paddy Durcan and Neill Douglas, will have cleared up ahead of that big game.
Garrymore head to Charlestown in what is likely to be another cracking game if Charlestown can lift the heads following that narrow loss to Castlebar Mitchels, and that seems likely given their second half performance at Josie Munnelly Park on Sunday.
Breaffy have been slipping under the radar in Group 3 and they produced a big performance to see off the challenge of Claremorris (1-16 to 0-11) and will be strong favourites to win the group. Breaffy face Balla, who lost to Belmullet, next Saturday in Group 3 while Claremorris will be looking for something when they travel to Belmullet, last year’s beaten finalists looking good for a place in the qualifier after that win over Balla.