Mayo SFC: Breaffy impress in win against Knockmore

Breaffy made it three wins from three in the group stages of the Mayo GAA Connacht Gold Senior Football Championship with a five-point win (0-22 to 1-14) over Knockmore in Kiltimagh, writes Colm Gannon.

The west Mayo men led from pillar to post, with their two-point shooting proving the key foundation stone of their victory.

Twelve of Breaffy's 22 points coming from orange flags, with both Jack Livingstone and Matthew Ruane bagging two each and Joe Mellet and Aidan O’Shea one each.

Breaffy burst out of the blocks and were leading by 0-9 to 0-1 after 15 minutes, with Joe Mellett kicking three points, Aidan O’Shea and Matthew Ruane landing two-pointers, along with singles from Yousif Coghill and Conor O’Shea.

Peter Naughton, who took the fight to Breaffy, registered the only Knockmore score in that run.

The north Mayo men did battle back and there were just four between the sides at the break (0-12 to 0-8), with Connall Dempsey and Pearse Ruttledge kicking two-pointers and Aidan Orme also getting in on the scoring action.

The second half saw Breaffy maintain their form from long range, with their first three scores of the half all two-pointers, one from Ruane and brace from Livingstone, to put them in a 0-18 to 0-11 lead at the three-quarter mark.

Breaffy were able to keep Knockmore at arm's length for the rest of the game and even saw Robbie Fadden miss a penalty late on, with the final score of the day coming from Peter Naughton, who took a quick free that flashed past Livingston for the only goal of the game – but it was too little, too late for Knockmore as they crashed out of the Moclair Cup race.

*See more on the encounter in Tuesday's print edition of The Connaught Telegraph