Ballintubber 0-16
Castlebar Mitchels 0-15
(After extra-time)
Colm Gannon reports from Elverys MacHale Park
A POINT FROM Joe Geraghty in the final minute of extra-time saw Ballintubber knock the three-time defending champions Castlebar Mitchels out of Mayo senior football championship at the semi-final stage.
BALLINTUBBER LEAD!!! pic.twitter.com/sJabD9mDCW
— Mid West Radio (@radiomidwest) October 13, 2018
The game was level at the end of normal time at 12 points each and for the second week in-a-row the teams went to extra-time.
Cillian O’Connor kicked the first score of the additional time from free six minutes in and that was followed by a point from younger brother Diarmuid to go two clear.
David Stenson slotted over a close-range free for Mitchels a minute before the break to leave just one between the teams heading into the final ten minutes.
Padraig O’Connor gave the challengers a two point lead once more with five minutes to go, but two Neil Douglas pointed frees had the sides locked level once again as time slipped away.
It was a nerve-wracking finish and Geraghty held his nerve to slot the ball under pressure after some excellent play by Jason Gibbons and Padraig O’Connor in the build up.
Just as in the drawn game a injury time Cillian O’Connor point sent the game into extra time after Ballintubber battled back from two down with normal time almost up to level the game up after normal time.
LEVEL AGAIN! IT'S EXTRA TIME AGAIN!! Cillian O Connor with nerves of steel yet again! The last kick of the game levels it 0-12 0-12! https://t.co/YBngTwgRSd pic.twitter.com/duwq4fDrb2
— Mid West Radio (@radiomidwest) October 13, 2018
O’Connor slotted over a free from tight to the left hand side of the field after Jamsie O’Connor tempted Donie Newcombe into a tackle that was punished by O’Connor.
A minute before that Diarmuid O’Connor split the posts from distance to make it 0-12 to 0-11 and Mitchels looked to have done enough to see the game out when they won the resulting kick-out, but an over cooked pass was won by Myles Kelly and it set Ballintubber off on the move that ended up with O’Connor’s levelling score.
Mitchels were much better in the second half with Neil Douglas in impressive form in the full-forward position winning a lot of ball and contributing two points at vital stages.
Barry Moran got the scoreboard moving in the second half with a close range free two minutes in, that was responded to by a Cillian O’Connor pointed free two minutes later.
Douglas and Steven O’Malley traded points, then scores from Anthony O’Boyle and Douglas had the game level at 0-9 each with 12 minutes to go.
Castlebar then pushed into a two point lead thanks to scores from Paddy Durcan and Shane Hopkins, before Cillian O’Connor cut the gap back to a single point on 54 minutes.
David Stenson edged Mitchels back in front by two from a placed ball with four minutes left on the clock and looking good to have a tilt at four titles in a row, but Ballintubber and the two O’Connor brothers had other ideas.
Ballintubber went in leading by two points at the break, with Mayo captain Cillian O’Connor kicking three points over the 30 minutes and putting in a power of work all over the field.
Mitchels started brightly and were two points to the good inside the opening two minutes with Shane Hopkins and Neil Douglas slotting over a fine score, getting in on the end of a quick break.
O’Connor kicked his first score of the game for his side from a free 45 meters out on the four minute mark and seven minutes later he tied the game up from another free.
Gary Loftus and Jason Gibbons added over two quick fire points to put Kevin Johnson’s men two up.
James Durcan kicked the first of two first half points he landed during the first half on 14 minute and a minute later he levelled the game up after showing a clean pair of heals to Ruaidhri O’Connor down the left wing.
David Stenson kicked Mitchels back in from from a close range free ten minutes from the turn around, but rather than kick-on as expected it was Ballintubber who drove on before the break kicking the next three points of the game from a fine O’Connor score from play followed points from Brian Walsh and Alan Dillon before the break.
Have you ever seen anything like it!!!??? @BallintubberCLG have dethroned the champions after extra time in a replay!! Joe Geraghty kicks the winner in an amazing finish!! @TheSISMClinic pic.twitter.com/WW0i3Ic4kP
— Mid West Radio (@radiomidwest) October 13, 2018
Scores for Ballintubber: Cillian O’Connor (0-7, 6f) D O’Connor (0-2), Brian Walsh (0-1), Padraig O’Connor (0-1), Jason Gibbons (0-1), Alan Dillon (0-1), Joe Geraghty (0-1), Gary Loftus (0-1), Steven O’Malley (0-1)
Scores for Castlebar Mitchels: Neil Douglas (0-5, 3f), David Stenson (0-3, 3f), Shane Hopkins (0-2), James Durcan (0-2), Barry Moran (0-1), Anthony O’Boyle (0-1), Paddy Durcan (0-1).
Ballintubber
1. Brendan Walsh
2. Gary Loftus
3. Cathal Hallinan
4. Brian Murphy
5. Damien Coleman
6. Michael Plunkett
7. Ruaidhri O’Connor
8. Jason Gibbons
9. Diarmuid O’Connor
10. Ciaran Gavin
11. Alan Dillon
12. Alan Plunkett
20. Brian Walsh
14. Cillian O’Connor
15. Steven O’Malley
Subs:
21. Jamsie Finnerty for Alan Plunkett
18. Myles Kelly for Ruaidhri O’Connor
13. Padraig O’Connor for Steven O’Malley
17. Declan Larkin for Cathal Hallinan
19. Joe Geraghty for Gary Loftus.
Castlebar Mitchels
1. Rory Byrne
2. Sean Conlon
3. Ger McDonagh
4. Donie Newcombe
5. Ray O’Malley
6. Patrick Durcan
7. Shane Hopkins
8. Aidan Walsh
9. Donal Vaughan
17. Eoghan Reilly
11. Danny Kirby
12. James Durcan
13. Barry Moran
14. Neil Douglas
15. David Stenson
Subs:
19. Anthony O’Boyle for Aidan Walsh
11. Neil Lydon for Danny Kirby
25. Calum Kyne for Ray O’Malley (BC)
11. Danny Kirby for Stenson.
Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here: