Ballina break Breaffy hearts in Mayo senior football final

Ballina Stephenites put the disappointment of last year's defeat behind them to win this season's Connacht Gold Mayo Senior Football Championship with a 0-6 to 0-4 victory over Breaffy in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar.

In what was a dour struggle, the result was in the balance right up to the very end of the four minutes of injury time at the end of the game, though Breaffy needed a goal to at that stage to swing the result in their favour.

They had chances, especially in the second half, but misdirected kicks, from frees and play, meant they came up short.

Their difficulties were summed up right at the death when they had a chance to lob the ball into the danger area from the McHale Road sideline in the hope of a miracle goal to win it, but the delivery drifted wide. The final whistle sounded on the kickout, confirming Breaffy's fifth county senior final defeat in 10 years.

Going into the game, the Stephenites were aiming for a 37th title overall, Breaffy for their very first, but the hunger for success was the same on both sides.

Breaffy were driven on by the memory of those four final defeats since 2013 against Castlebar Mitchels (twice), Ballintubber and Knockmore.

Ballina, meanwhile, were back in the final for the second successive year with the bitter memory of last year's loss to Westport still fresh in the mind.

That seemed to motivate the Ballina players, led by Ger Cafferkey, Padraig O'Hora and Sam Callinan and, up front, Evan Regan, who put in a serious shift.

Regan's two frees along with a Luke Feeney mark and a stylish effort from the lively Conor McStay accounted for the Stephenites' first-half scores, and they could have had a healthier lead than 0-4 to 0-1 at the break but for some wayward shooting.

Breaffy, who opened the scoring through a Conor O'Shea free in the third minute, were content in that first half to soak up the Ballina pressure and hit them on the break, but they too erred when it came to shooting at goal.

However, they looked a rejuvenated team after the break, and the gap was down to the minimum after just three second-half minutes when Conor O'Shea (free) and half-time substitute James Minogue found the range. O'Shea had a chance to level it with a free as well but kicked it wide.

To get a foothold around the middle, Breaffy had to sacrifice the placing of Aidan O'Shea around the edge of the square. For the remainder of the half, that proved to be a problem as O'Shea's sheer presence around the goal area was missing and though under pressure, the Stephenites were able to keep their opponents at bay, Sean Regan coming in to help shore up that defence to a telling degree.

At the other end, Evan Regan's industriousness forced Jack Livingstone into a save at the expense of a 45' that Frank Irwin popped over to open up a two-point gap (0-5 to 0-3) with still well over 20 minutes to play.

The scores then dried up as it turned into a battle of attrition. Aidan O'Shea's free on 42 minutes may have reduced the gap to a single point again but as things transpired, it was to be Breaffy's final score of the game.

In fairness, it wasn't for the want of trying. The closest they came to swinging the game around in their favour arrived 12 minutes from the end of normal time when Davitt Neary burrowed through for a shot at goal from an acute angle on the right. The covering David Tighe intervened to direct the ball behind for a 45' that Jack Livingstone kicked short.

Late efforts by Aidan O'Shea (free) and Minogue drifted wide of the target too, and with time running out, Evan Regan fed Luke Feeney who scored Ballina's second point of the second half deep into injury time.

There was still that late chance for Breaffy to try and engineer the miracle goal they needed but, once again, they failed to make use of the opportunity, and with that their fate was sealed.

Ballina Stephenites: D. Clarke; L. Golden, G. Cafferkey, P. O'Hora; C. Boland, S. Callinan, D. Tighe; F. Irwin (0-1 45'), D. Thornton; N. Feeney, M. Birrane, J. Irwin; E. Regan (0-2f), L. Feeney (0-2, 1f), C. McStay (0-1).

Subs used: S. Regan, M. Murray, C. Treacy, B. Collins.

Breaffy: J. Livingstone; C. Beirne, M. Dervan, C. Melly; D. Livingstone, M. Hall, D. Morrin; C. O'Shea (0-2f), M. Ruane; D. Neary, R. Fadden, R. Martyn; T. O'Reilly, A. O'Shea (0-1f), S. McDermott.

Subs used: J. Minogue (0-1), C. Flynn, C. Golden, P. Deane.

Referee: G. McMahon.