MARTIN CARNEY: The battle intensifies in the Mayo club championship

IF ever the west of Ireland gave us a full-on view of its contrasting weather extremes, it had to be at the weekend. Saturday’s Mediterranean moments gave way to Sunday’s grey, wet and sepulchral depths as players over the two days battled it out in their race to remain relevant in this year’s championship.

Once again my involvement with the Mitchels intermediate team prevented my presence at any of Saturday’s games but with friends and family among the many in attendance over the county, I managed to get a fair picture of what went on.

After their contrasting opening day results, much hinged on the Breaffy v Balla derby on Saturday. Balla, on the wrong side of a home defeat to Belmullet, faced a Breaffy side hugely encouraged by their win over Claremorris.

In front of a full house, the home side Breaffy had little trouble in accounting for the visitors and ran out comfortable winners. Balla’s cause wasn’t helped by a late injury to their highly influential goalkeeper Matthew Flanagan but, even so, they struggled to contain the power and desire of a Breaffy team whose two points guarantees them a quarterfinal spot. Most of the damage was inflicted in the opening period when a Conor O’Shea/ Robbie Fadden-inspired midfield performance allied to the Matthew Ruane/Aidan O’Shea central forward combination saw them establish an eight-point interval lead. Whatever faint hope Balla had in the second period dimmed with a missed penalty opportunity and a failure to make their numerical advantage count when Tommy Reilly incurred a black card.

The other talking point was the continuing good form of Jack Livingstone between the sticks; his commanding presence, good shot-stopping and reliability continues to see him preferred over Robbie Hennelly. This is a little side story that may have a sequel when county panels are announced later in the year.

Aside from the afternoon’s enforced traffic management plan, the big talking point from the Westport v Ballintubber clash was the impressive showing of the home team in putting the visitors to the sword with a display of power and genuine pace.

In fairness, the Ballintubber cause wasn’t helped by a Cillian O’ Connor injury that necessitated his departure at the break. By then, though, a defensive display inspired by Lee Keegan and Eoghan McLaughlin had managed to thwart whatever Ballintubber had up front. Alongside them Paul Lambert was prominent but for many all eyes were on Mark Moran in assessing his form and contribution to the Westport effort. Impressive though he was, the challenge facing him is to maximise his enormous skill levels on a consistent basis.

Mayo, at the moment, are trawling the county for players with an amalgam of work-rate, finishing power and team awareness. If the desire is there to complement his innate gifts, then there is no reason why we shouldn’t hear of Moran over the next while. Talent-wise there is no doubting the team’s overall quality, and from a management point of view, few are better equipped at getting the best out those in their care than Martin Connolly.

DAUNTING

Despite reaching the senior decider on seven occasions, the most recent being in 1991, the club has yet to capture the title. I get a feeling that the time has never been better than now to dispel old myths and create their own piece of history. The challenge is daunting but with a united effort, there is every chance that the Covies could write their own piece of history in 2022.

Mayo Gaels and Aghamore experienced little trouble in accounting for The Neale and Ballaghdereen respectively. After their late, late show that got them a point against Ballina in the opening round, I expected more from Ballagh' in their derby clash with Aghamore. With Fergal Boland, Tom O’Flaherty, the accurate Conor Beirne and Conor Hunt excelling around the middle, Aghamore made light work of the Ballaghaderreen, however.

With another all-round display of class and accuracy, Paul Towey led the way for Charlestown in getting a deserved draw with Garrymore. Though marked by Enda Hession for periods, the elusive and wily attacker gave a display of accurate finishing at a time when the county is crying out for new forwards. Likewise, in the same group, Castlebar Mitchels did enough to see off the Davitts challenge and in doing so qualify for the quarterfinals. Achieveing this without the service of the Durcan brothers makes it all the more commendable.

However, the game that caught the imagination in advance was the meeting of Ballina Stephenites and Knockmore, and to say it didn’t disappoint is an understatement. Here was a clash of the reigning champions with the most decorated of all Mayo clubs but one without anything to show since their last title in 2007. From the start the Stephenites settled better than their opponents and deservedly built up a narrow lead. Cleverly mixing their approach play, they nonetheless seemed to place a lot of faith in long deliveries to their target man Dylan Thornton. Nearing the break and just at a time when Knockmore had established a firm foothold in the game, Thornton made his presence felt by flicking one of these scuds to the net.

Ballina's three-point interval lead was just about deserved. With Jack and Frank Irwin excelling, the indomitable Padraic O’Hora engaging with every contest and Ciaran Boland finding his range, the Stephenites defiantly threw down the gauntlet to their opponents. That early third quarter creativity in front of goal bore fruit with excellent efforts from Evan Regan and an impressive Conor McStay. Delightful combined and instinctive play prefaced both strikes and each was a model of pin-point accuracy and efficiency.

Knockmore were visibly stunned by these scores but to their credit battled to the finish, as befitted a team of their standing. Connell Dempsey, Shane McHale, Kevin McLoughlin, in the second period, and the ever dependable Peter Naughton continued to lead the way, but Ballina gave everyone present and beyond a glimpse that they have the hunger and approach to win their first title since 2007. Credit to both teams for delivering a game of real quality.

Next week we’ll take a look at the possible outcomes and likely quarterfinalists from what has been to now an enjoyable championship.