Facing into next weekend’s vital Championship games, both teams gave a good account of themselves and looked fit and sharp. However, it was Ballintubber who had that bit extra, with the home side relying a bit too much on the Darren Coen and Conor Keane for scores. Hollymount’s dynamic duo were kept on a short lead throughout by Brian Murphy and Gary Loftus who played a big part in curtailing their influence. We also created more chances and kicked fewer wides than our opponents and had the better of our neighbours around the middle of the field.
We were nearly always five or six points ahead and were able to withdraw the likes of Alan Dillon, Cillian O’Connor and Diarmuid O’Connor at relatively early stages. But for a stunning goal from Darren Coen in the final minute, we would’ve won by a more convincing margin.
 
As a soft rain made for very slippery playing conditions, a real contest unfolded in the early stages. Noel Geraghty landed the Abbeysiders’ opening score before Alan Dillon launched a long ball towards Cillian O’Connor who fielded before firing a goal past Cian Ferriter. The home side quickly set out to cancel out this score as Darren Coen hit the side netting with a goal attempt. The South Mayo men made no mistake second time around when Kevin Feerick teed up Conor Keane who sent his shot between the posts and into the net. Stephen O’Malley then pointed from an acute angle before Hollymount/Carramore’s dynamic duo of Keane and Coen forced two excellent saves from Brendan Walsh on two separate occasions.

When the ball going into Keane and Coen dried up, we proceeded to pull ahead. Five successive scores from Brian Walsh, Ciaran Gavin, Cillian O’Connor, Jason Gibbons and Stephen O’Malley pushed the Abbeysiders into a six-point lead. Points from Robert Molloy and Dylan Jennings were promptly cancelled out by a pair of scores from Cillian O’Connor, meaning we lead 1-9 to 1-3 at half time.

The tempo of the game dropped a few gears in the second half, with both teams defending and attacking in big numbers. Substitute Padraic O’Connor landed our first point before Conor Keane pointed for Holly’ after some good work by Stephen Coen. Stephen’s cousin Darren added his first point from play while Keane landed a fine point later on. Despite big shifts from likes of Kevin Feerick, Robert Molloy and Stephen Coen, the home side lacked a cutting edge upfront and were too dependent on Darren Coen and Conor Keane for scores.
Frees from Ciaran Gavin and Cillian O’Connor kept the Abbeysiders comfortably in front before Hollymount/Carrmore’s Nathan Moran was red-carded.

Despite being a man down, the home side managed to land points from Darren Coen and wing-back Dylan Jennings. With a minute remaining and the result settled, Coen gave spectators a reminder of why he is in James Horan’s plans when he somehow threaded a shot into the net past through two Ballintubber defenders and goalkeeper Brendan Walsh.
This coming Saturday sees us travel to Ballina to take on Belmullet in the Quarter-Final of the Mayo Senior Football Championship. Ar aghaidh linn le chéile!

Ballintubber team: Brendan Walsh, Gary Loftus, Brian Murphy, Myles Kelly, Damien Coleman, Michael Plunkett, Ruaidhri O’Connor, Jason Gibbons (0-1), Diarmuid O’Connor, Ciarán Gavin (0-2, 2f), Alan Dillon, Brian Walsh (0-1), Noel Geraghty (0-1), Cillian O’Connor (1-4, 2f), Stephen O’Malley (0-3)

Substitutions used: Padraic O’Connor (0-1) for Noel Geraghty, Joe Geraghty for Gary Loftus, Alan Plunkett for Diarmuid O’Connor, Keelan McDonnell for Alan Dillon, Noel Geraghty for Cillian O’Connor