Mayo IFC final: South Mayo 'derby' set to sweep away Storm Boelo hangover!

by Aiden Henry

WHATEVER comes or goes in this year's Mayo GAA Egan Jewellers Intermediate Football Championship final in Hastings Insurance McHale Park today, the Sweeney Cup will be resting in south Mayo for the next 12 months.

Having two clubs from the same division contesting a Mayo championship final makes it extra special, and adds more spice to what is expected to be a rip-roaring and close decider.

Not many would have predicted a meeting in the final between Ballinrobe and Davitts after the group stages of this year’s championship. Both qualified for the quarterfinals after finishing runners-up in their respective groups.

But qualify for the final they have, and in some style too. Indeed, their performances in the quarterfinals and semi-finals were exceptional, which leaves them both in with a great chance of lifting the Sweeney Cup.

Ballinrobe’s journey is marked by steady improvement from game one to game five. Their chances of winning the title looked diminished to a fair degree after their opening game.

Playing at home, they were well and truly beaten by Ballyhaunis on a scoreline of 1-15 to 1-8. Not many viewed them as serious challenges for the title after that.

However, their fortunes changed thereafter. In the second group game they had to travel out to Cong for a clash with neighbours The Neale. Here they showed a huge improvement and ended up deserving winners by seven points.

In the final group game against Castlebar Mitchels B – essentially a straight shootout for the runner-up spot and a place in the quarterfinal – Ballinrobe again rose to the challenge, coming out on top by a massive 2-19 to 0-8.

One knew after this display that Ballinrobe were back among the serious title contenders.

It got better as they sent two of the favourites packing in their next two games. They had to travel to Ardnaree in the quarterfinals and although they got off to a bad start, they ended up six-point winners.

It was on then to their semi-final against championship favourites Moy Davitts. Again, they came away with a brilliant six-point win to book their place in the final. Impressive stuff.

But if Ballinrobe have shown good form going into today's final, so too have Davitts. They got their campaign up and running with a huge win over Louisburgh, winning by four clear goals (4-20 to 0-20).

They had to travel to Foxford for a meeting with Moy Davitts in round two, and this was always going to be a very difficult assignment. While they were defeated, they did run the odds-on favourites very close.

In their final group game against Lahardane, with a quarterfinal place at stake, Davitts took control from early on and had their last eight spot booked long before the final whistle, winning by 3-22 to 0-15.

However, Davitts' quarterfinal opponents, Ballyhaunis, were many people's favourites to win the title. In a tough, close and exciting clash, Davitts came up trumps to win by two goals on a scoreline of 3-10 to 1-10.

The goal Davitts conceded to Ballyhaunis was the only one was scored against them in their five matches so far in the championship.

In the semi-final, Davitts proved too strong for Islandeady in the end after producing a fine display, winning by 3-16 to 0-17.

As one can see, here we have two very good sides contesting the 2026 intermediate championship final. Both seem to be in top form, and both have been very impressive in their recent outings. This makes all the more difficult to predict the outcome.

However, I am just going to give Davitts the nod as their greater experience might just get them over the line.

But they will have to come to Castlebar with their A game as, if not, Ballinrobe will punish them.

The Egan Jewellers Intermediate Football Championship final throws in at 1.45 p.m.