Mayo champions book their place in provincial semi-final

Ballina Stephenites booked their place in the semi-final of the AIB Connacht GAA Senior Football Championship with a hard-fought 1-15 to 0-10 victory over North London Shamrocks in blustery Bekan.

The elements certainly played their part as the Mayo champions struggled for long periods against their London counterparts but came good in the final quarter, three amazing two-pointers in a row going a long way towards settling the tie.

“We performed well enough in the end to get over the line,” said relieved Stephenites manager Niall Heffernan after the game.

“It was a very poor performance for lots of it (the game), but we were made play poorly. We knew they'd be very aggressive, really determined. They have a lot of quality players there. The conditions made it harder too.

“In the end we needed some players to really step up and we kicked three brilliant two-pointers that got us across the line.”

A first-half goal by Luke Doherty from point-blank range following a surging run by Sam Callinan, a prominent figure all game, helped the Stephenites enjoy a 1-6 to 0-7 lead at the break playing against the wind.

It took late unanswered points from Callinan, Conor McStay and Mike Murray to guarantee that lead, however, as North London Shamrocks, for whom Joe McGill was a key figure in front of the posts, kept battling away.

With Evan Regan well shackled by the Londoners, a Ballina team without the services of Padraig O'Hora, Jack Irwin and Ciaran Boland had to look elsewhere for scores.

Frank Irwin, Mike Murray and substitute Ben Thornton lit up the second half with three spectacular two-pointers in succession, leaving the Stephenites with a commanding 1-14 to 0-10 leading going down the stretch.

Regan's last act before he was replaced by Luke Feeney was to pop over a close-range free that proved to be the game's final score, North London Shamrocks missing a golden opportunity in the first of three added minutes.

Had they goaled, it would have provided the scoreboard with a more accurate reflection of the game as a whole as the eight-point winning margin somewhat flattered the Mayo champions.

Injuries to Sean Regan and Barry Walsh put a bit of a dampener on the victory as management now turn their focus towards the Roscommon champions, St. Brigid's, in the provincial semi-final.

*See Tuesday's print edition for a full report