In the Mayo Senior Football Championship showdown, Ballina Stephenites pushed past Knockmore to clutch their 38th title. The victory was more straightforward than speculated, with the defending champions seizing control early on. Knockmore struggled throughout, unable to level up their game, particularly after being unsuccessful in their last-minute plea to rescind a red card issued to their midfielder, Pearse Ruttledge.
By the 13-minute mark, Ballina’s dominant performance had already mirrored their final score from the previous year, topping it off with an impressive goal from Evan Regan. This moved them into a 1-3 to 0-1 lead over their neighbouring rivals.
Ballina Stephenites maintained their momentum throughout the first half, with both Regan and Frank Irwin contributing a couple of free kicks, putting them in the comfortable lead of 1-6 to 0-3 at half-time.
Returning from injury, local Mayo players Padraig O’Hora and Mikey Murray added to Ballina’s strength, with Murray scoring in the second half and O’Hora awarded as the game’s top player.
Knockmore experienced a dry spell of 20 minutes without scoring across both halves. Their single point from field play post-interval came from Caolan Hopkins at the 40th minute. This was their lone score from play in the second half, with the remainder of their scores achieved by Aiden Orme through free kicks. Orme received a black card in the final moments, further exacerbating Knockmore’s circumstances.
Highlighting the scorers, Regan and Irwin led the roster for Ballina with 1-2 (0-2f) and 0-3f respectively, followed by Conor McStay and Murray with 0-2 each. For Knockmore, Orme scored 0-4 (3f), Hopkins delivered 0-3 (2f), and Keith Ruttledge contributing 0-1.
Substitute players in the game included Ciaran Boland, who was subbed for S Regan at half time, Ciaran Treacy as a replacement for O’Hora from 48 to 61 minutes, Dylan Thornton and Ciaran Sweeney stepping in for Doherty and L Feeney at the 58th minute, Stephen Mullins taking over from Golden at the 60th minute, and finally, Treacy replacing N Feeney at 60+3.
The Knockmore squad comprised Colm Reape, David McHale, Kieran King, Adam Battle, Nathan Armstrong, Conor Flynn, Sean Holmes, Connell Dempsey, Kevin McLoughlin, Oliver Armstrong, Darren McHale, Keith Ruttledge, Liam Durcan, Aiden Orme, and Caolan Hopkins.
Adam Naughton and Billy Ruane entered the game as substitutes for Dempsey and Flynn after 39 minutes. Charlie Bourke was brought in for Ruttledge at 48 minutes, followed by Peter Naughton substituting Durcan at 53 minutes. Finally, Darragh Staunton replaced Armstrong after 57 minutes. The game was overseen by referee Jerome Henry from Castlebar Mitchels.