After a weekend without any action in the top divisions of the Mayo GAA senior leagues, round two of the senior football leagues. Ballintubber who saw off Breaffy in round one in an ill tempered affair that saw both Seamus and Aidan O’Shea along with Ruaidhri O’Connor get red carded will host Ballina Stephenites on Sunday afternoon. The north Mayo men went down by a single point to Hollymount-Carramore in the first round of games and facing the defending championship winners will be another serious examination for them early on this season. The aforementioned men from south Mayo will host another north Mayo outfit when Knockmore come calling on Sunday afternoon. Knockmore earned a hard-fought point in their first game when they drew 1-8 a piece with Kiltane thanks to a last-gasp, Kieran Lanagan goal a fortnight ago.
In the battle of south Mayo in round one, Garrymore were the side that emerged with the bragging rights when they saw off Davitts with plenty to spare in a 1-11 to 0-6 win at home with Jimmy Killeen and Enda Varley chipping in with five points, while Shane Nally got the goal. On Sunday, Garrymore will head north to take on Kiltane, these sides met in the championship last year with Garrymore winning on home turf and Kiltane would love to get a bit of revenge on Sunday.
Davitts will be looking to get back to winning ways when they host Crossmolina Deel Rovers in Ballindine on Sunday afternoon, the visitors picked up a win in their opening round game against Claremorris with an impressive 2-14 to 0-10 win in Crossmolina. Fionn Duffy chipped in with five points, while Conor Loftus scored 1-3 that day and these two young Deel Rovers aces could be key on Sunday.
Claremorris will host a Kilmaine side that will be flying full of confidence after the shock result of the opening round saw them pip Castlebar Mitchels at the death, thanks to a late Brian Maloney goal, followed by a late point from Pádraic McDonagh saw them grab a one point victory.
As for the Mitchels they’ve got another tough task when they take on next door neighbours Breaffy on Sunday. Both sides suffered defeats in round one and if Breaffy can successfully appeal both of the O’Shea’s red cards from round one it will make Mitchels task even tougher. This will also be the first time that Declan O’Reilly will be in charge against the team he brought as far as the county final in 2013, only for Mitchels to defeat them that day.
In Division 1B, Ballaghaderreen will be looking to follow up their big win over Ballinrobe in round one, with another victory when they travel to Ballyhaunis for an all east Mayo affair. Last years intermediate champions lost out to Burrishoole by four points in round one, but scoring only 1-3 will be a bit of a worry for them coming out of that game. The aforementioned men from McGovern Park will be making the trip to Charlestown to take on side that ground out a two point win over Kiltimagh in round one in what should be a very interesting encounter. In round one Aghamore who operate in the senior championship faced opposition from the junior championship when they saw off Ardnaree Sarsfields by five points and this weekend, it’s a club from the intermediate championship they’ll face when they host Westport on Sunday evening. The visitors had a good 0-14 to 1-6 win over Tourmakeady in round one and will be confident of showing themselves well on their travels. Shurle-Glencorrib who had 3-11 to 2-10 win over Bohola Moy Davitts last time out in what looked like the game of the day, will be heading to the Gaeltacht when they take on Tourmakeady on Sunday, while Bohola Moy Davitts will host Kiltimagh on Sunday evening. The final game in the division will see Ballinrobe look to shake off the after effects of the 12 point beating they took from Ballaghaderreen in round one when they take on Ardnaree Sarsfields on Sunday.
