The Mayo League Oscar Traynor Trophy side will be making an almost 300 mile round trip from the home of the Mayo League in Milebush, Castlebar, to Buncrana this Sunday looking to book their place in the next round of the national interleague competition.
The Mayo League sides game against the Inishowen League is their second long distance commute to Donegal this season after opening their campaign in the competition with a 2-2 draw against the Donegal League.
Michael Hutton’s side followed that up with an impressive second half performance that resulted in a 3-1 win over the Sligo Leitrim League a fortnight ago in Milebush and a positive result on Sunday will send them into the knock-out stages of the competition.
Last time out it was a trio of second half goals from Ballina Town duo Brendan Lavelle and Michael Duffy along with a David Hoban that were the decisive factors for the Mayo in getting the win. The action will get under way in Buncrana on Sunday at 2.30pm.
Big three progress in cup action
Last weekend’s round four games in the FAI Junior Cup saw Ballina Town, Castlebar Celtic, and Westport United all book their spots in the first national round of the competition. Ballina Town were more than comprehensive winners over Claremorris in Concannon Park where they put seven past the home side in a 7-1 win. Brendan Lavelle was the main man with a hat trick for his side, with four others chipping in with a goal each.
Westport United also booked their place in the next round thanks to a 3-1 win over Manulla at home. The league champions saw David Hoban bag a hat-trick from the 33rd to 61st minute to seal their spot in the next round, with Gary Durcan getting a late consolation for the visitors from the penalty spot.
Castlebar Celtic were made to work for their win last weekend over Iorras Aontaithe, eventually coming out winners on a scoreline of 4-2. Celtic went into a three goal lead just before the hour mark thanks to a brace from Colm Nevin and a strike from Ronan O’Boyle. But Iorras hit back with two in as many minutes around the three-quarter of an hour mark, from Jonathan Donoghue and Michael Meeeghan. But late on Chris Rowland made sure of the win with a close in finish, after Celtic escaped a few near misses at their own end.
