Mayo SFC semi-finals
Westport 1-11
Castlebar Mitchels 1-10
Ballina Stephenites 3-10
Ballintubber 1-13
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WESTPORT SAW OFF Castlebar Mitchels by a single point in dramatic circumstances in today’s second Mayo senior football championship semi-final.
Westport led the game from the start but could never shake off the Mitchels challenge, and two minutes into injury time when Ethan Gibbons stroked home a penalty to put Castlebar into the lead by two points for the only time in the game, it looked like it would be heartbreak for Westport.
But there was still a punch left in them; they managed to work the ball back down the field without panicking and create a shot for sub Shane Scott who roofed the ball to the back of the net past Rory Byrne, to grab a 1-11 to 1-10 win.
Westport had most of the possession in the game, with Mitchels sitting deep and looking to hurt them on the break. It was 0-4 to 0-1 to Westport at the 15-minute mark with Lee Keegan landing a brace of those points.
Castlebar wouldn’t go away though and with Ethan Gibbons in fine form they managed to cut that deficit in half by the break with Westport going in leading 0-7 to 0-5.
It took 12 minutes for the first score of the second half to arrive through a Gibbons free and it went tit for tat on the scoreboard from then – until the late drama in injury time.
Westport, who have never won a Mayo senior title, will now go on to face Ballina Stephenites in the final in a fortnight’s time, while Ballina are chasing their 37th title at this grade and first since 2007.
Ballina Stephenites booked their first senior final appearance in 15 years with a three-point win over Ballintubber in the first game in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.
Niall Heffernan’s side hit three goals against the west Mayo men to bring their championship total to 14 in five outings.
Ballintubber started brightly and were leading early doors until Evan Regan’s goal 20 minutes in after Ballintubber got mixed up on their kick-out and Regan nipped into to claim the ball and finish calmly to the back of the net.
Regan followed that up with a point to send his side in leading 0-6 to 1-5 at the half-time break.
Keelan McDonnell cut the gap back to one after the restart, but two points on the spin from Frank Irwin who finished the game with 1-5 had the winners three clear – before Cillian O’Connor got his first score of the day for his side.
Ballina hit their second goal when Irwin scored on the rebound after his penalty was saved by Brendan Walsh to put Ballina 2-7 to 0-8 to the good on 40 minutes.
Ballintubber clipped over a brace of points to close the gap, but when Luke Doherty finished from close range after being found by a brilliant pass from Regan – the game looked done and dusted.
But Ballintubber kept plugging away and when Diarmuid O’Connor rose highest to flick the ball over David Clarke to the back of the net there was just three points between the sides as the game approached injury time.
Both sides managed to add on points before the end, but Ballintubber could never get the goal they needed to force injury time and Ballina held on to move into the final for the first time in a decade-and-a-half on a score of 3-10 to 1-13.