Ballinrobe's St. Joseph's Primary School lift Mayo GAA crown for first time

by Patrick Hennelly

History has been made at MacHale Park, Castlebar, as St. Joseph’s Primary School, Ballinrobe, won their first ever Mayo Cumann na mBunscol Division One A Boys title, defeating Quay N.S., Ballina, by 2-15 to 2-13.

This game was an enthralling tie from start to finish and was still in the melting pot up until the final whistle.

The Quay Ballina made a positive start and they netted their opening goal of this high scoring contest after just five minutes, courtesy of Michael Duffy, which mustered a 1-1 to 0-2 lead.

If Ballinrobe were rocked at such an early set-back then they didn’t show it, and the Robesiders gradually got right back into contention courtesy of points from Sean Heaney (f), Jamie O’Toole (f), and Patrick Duffy, to level matters.

St. Joseph’s then netted a three-pointer on 13 minutes, when Patrick Duffy rustled the back of the net, much to the delight of the large band of Ballinrobe supporters.

However, Brian Ruane netted The Quay’s second goal of the game on 15 minutes and this gave his team-mates a 2-3 to 1-5 advantage.

Ballinrobe upped the tempo once again and points from the busy Sean Heaney (three, two frees), and a superb goal by Jayden Colfar, helped garner a 2-8 to 2-4 half-time lead for St. Joseph’s.

The red and black made a sprightly start to the second period and points from Heaney (2), Jamie O’Toole (f), and Alex Stan, shunted their team-mates into a 2-12 to 2-6 lead.

The Quay refused to throw in the towel and points by Conor Rafter, and Brian Ruane (2), reduced the deficit to just three points.

Both sets of supporters were on tenterhooks, however, St. Joseph’s raiding centre-back Will Gavin guided over a gem of a long-range point on 49 minutes (25 minutes per-half), which helped garner a 2-15 to 2-9 lead for St. Joseph’s.

The Quay added a flurry of scores as the game drew to a close, however, St. Joseph’s held on to claim an historic and memorable victory.