Search Results for 'the Treanlaur Catering Senior Football Championship'

It was a weekend for surprises in Elverys MacHale Park in the Treanlaur Catering Senior Football Championship, with the defending champions Ballaghaderreen and the winners of the previous two titles Ballintubber both bowing out of championship at the quarter-final stage. The final of the last eight ties got off to a dramatic start, with most eyes during the warm up trying to see was Cillian O’Connor going to play any part in the game, then suddenly Knockmore’s Aiden Kilcoyne had to be stretchered off the field before a ball had even been kicked in anger. The All Ireland u21 winner, when running away from the team photograph did something to his knee in his run towards the warm up and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher, in some discomfort. It wasn’t the start that Nigel Reape would have been hoping for, but his charges, knuckled down without their marquee forward and tore into Peter Ford’s Ballintubber side. The main man in the clash was Declan Sweeney who rolled back the years with a performance for the ages in the full-forward position. He ran Cathal Hallinan ragged all day, and Hallinan didn’t have a particularly bad game and was the key difference between the sides. Knockmore were leading by 0-3 to 0-2 after ten minutes, when Ballintubber hit the first goal of the game to push themselves into the lead. Padraic O’Connor dropped the ball into the danger area and Knockmore goalkeeper Andrew Higgins didn’t cover himself in glory as the ball spilled loose and a combination of Alan Plunkett and Damien McGing combined to force the ball over the line from close range. But Knockmore weren’t going to bend the knee easily and 14 minutes later they pushed themselves back into a 0-8 to 1-3 lead thanks to points from Kieran Langan, Andrew Keane, Tom Clarke and a brace from Declan Sweeney. The north Mayo men tagged on two more points before the break through Kevin McLoughlin and they had the bit between their teeth at the turn around and headed for the dressing room leading 0-10 to 1-3. Diarmuid O’Connor opened the scoring in the second half with a fine point a minute in, but two minutes later the definitive moment of the game arrived when Knockmore bagged their only goal of the contest. Shane McHale who put in a top-class shift in around the middle third hit an effort for a point that came back off the post and Darren McHale was the quickest to react to the rebound a drove the ball high to the roof of Brendan Walsh’s net to put Reape’s side into a six point lead. But Ballintubber were not throwing in the towel just yet and they reeled off four points without reply in the next ten minutes to close the gap to just two points. Padraic O’Connor kicked three frees and Jason Gibbons added the other from distance. The game looked to be ebbing back towards the west Mayo men, but this was going to be Knockmore’s day and two pointed frees from Kieran Langan sandwiched other efforts from Stephen Sweeney and Kevin McLoughlin stretched their lead out to six points with ten minutes to go. Ballintubber went looking for goals at the end and they couldn’t dig themselves out of this one and Knockmore toughed it out at the end to win by 1-15 to 1-10.

The final round of group games in both the Treanlaur Catering Senior Football Championship and the Egan Jewellers Intermediate Football Championships took place last weekend. In the senior championship, the defending county champions Ballaghaderreen were held to their second draw so far this year in the championship, when Ballinrobe engaged them in a 0-20 to 2-14 shootout — alas for the south Mayo men it was not enough for them as Garrymore’s win over Aghamore saw them through with Ballagh’ into the last eight.

With the club championship providing plenty of distraction last weekend from the impending All Ireland semi-final with the defending All Ireland champions, this weekend the build up to the showdown really cranked up.

Could Castlebar Mitchels stop Ballintubber's drive for three senior titles in a row? That was the big question that was being asked in the lead up to last weekends quarter finals in the Treanlaur Catering Senior Football Championship. After 60 minutes of battle on Sunday evening, for the third year in row, Ballintubber emerged victorious from the heat of championship battle with their near neighbors.

At Wednesday night’s draw, when Garrymore were pulled out of the bag to complete the third quarter-final pairing in the Treanlaur Catering Senior Football Championship, it was the confirmation that only one possible pairing could come out in the fourth game. Out came Ballintubber and they were swiftly followed by Castlebar Mitchels, pairing the sides who have met in the last two finals in quarter-final action this time. The chances of these sides meeting at this stage looked remote enough last week, with both sides top of the table in their respective groups and looking favourites to stay there and claim a top seed for the draw. But Castlebar Mitchels came a cropper to a rejuvenated Crossmolina Deel Rovers at home last Sunday and slipped into the second seeds pot for the quarter-final draw. The draw itself has also the mapped out the routes from here on into the finals in both the senior championship and the Egan Jewellers Intermediate Football Championship.

The final round of action in the group stages in the Treanlaur Catering Senior Football Championship and Egans Jewellers Intermediate Football Championship is down for decision this weekend across the county.

The four sides left in the Treanlaur Catering Senior Football Championship have lifted the Moclair Cup a grand total of 72 times. Ballina Stephenites (36) and Castlebar Mitchels (27) have more than the lion’s share between. But that does not mean that those two sides will make it through their semi-finals over the weekend to set up a traditional classic pairing in the final. In fact the favourites to the make the final in a lot of people’s eyes will probably be the younger pretenders Knockmore and Ballintubber with their eight and one title respectively. While Castlebar won their first title in 1888 and Ballina in 1889, Knockmore did not climb the mountain for the first time until 1973 and Ballintubber did for their only time so far last season.

The quarter final pairings for the Treanlaur Catering Senior Football Championship and the Mayo intermediate and junior championship have thrown up a number of interesting battles that are sure to get hearts racing next weekend. Despite seven of the eight sides which made it to this stage of the competition last year being back again, the draw managed to avoid any repeat parings from this stage last year. Defending champions Ballintubber, now under the tutelage of Anthony McGarry following the ascension of James Horan to the Mayo hot seat, will take on Shrule-Glenncorrib. The defending champions will go into the game as favourites. Knockmore, whose win over Breaffy saw them leapfrog the west Mayo men to top their group, were rewarded with a tie against Ballaghaderreen for a place in the final four. The aforementioned Breaffy managed to avoid the two other west Mayo sides which were potential opponents and book a spot against an impressive looking Ballina Stephenites side who have been moving very well so far in the championship. The final clash in the Treanlaur Senior Championships sees our columnist John Maughan and his Crossmolina Deel Rovers facing off against Castlebar Mitchels in the last eight. The county town side are of course managed this year by Pat Holmes who played for many years under Maughan with Mayo and replaced him as manager at the turn of the century.