No place to Hyde for Mayo champions in Roscommon

Ballina Stephenites saw their bid for a first AIB Connacht Senior Football Championship title since 2007 come to an end against St. Brigid's in King & Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park, Roscommon, writes John Melvin.

The 1-21 to 3-8 scoreline doesn’t quite reflect the grip the Roscommon title holders had on this game and apart from that opening few minutes, when Ballina hit the first of their three goals, the Mayo champions never looked in a strong enough position to pressurise the St Brigid’s team, who had a number of inter-county players and panellists on board.

Ballina, too, had a few players who are part of the county senior team but the fact that a Mayo club hasn’t won a Connacht title since Castlebar Mitchels last achieved that honour in 2015 does raise some concerns over the gap in the club scene in Connacht - but that perhaps is a discussion for another day.

The most worrying aspect to this game was the half-time scoreline of 1-12 to 2-1. Facing adversity and finding a way to overcome it has been Ballina’s strength in the Mayo championship but on this occasion there was no way back.

For the first time in the championship Ballina had come up against superior opposition playing at a higher level, a team that had 11 different scorers and one that dominated the middle area of the pitch and moved the ball with pace.

On the credit side, Ballina found some gaps in the St. Brigid's rearguard, Dylan Thornton finding the net after three minutes and Evan Regan scoring their second goal later in that first half.

But St. Brigid’s kicked on in the second quarter and, aided by a Senan Kilbride goal, it looked like the game had gone from Ballina by half-time.

Sam Callinan, Mike Murray and Evan Regan tried to resurrect them and a third goal did give bring flicker of hope. A fine move involving Thornton, Murray and Callinan was finished to the net by substitute Ben Thornton, but any revival was soon extinguished as St. Brigid’s, now very much in control, eased past the winning post.

Ballina can reflect on a wonderful achievement of winning a 39th county title and completing the three-in-a-row this year, but their failure to make an impact in Connacht in the last three seasons is something they will have to address.

*See Tuesday's print edition for a comprehensive report