Talisman Aidan O'Shea inspires Breaffy to upset win over Castlebar to reach Mayo SFC final
Aidan O'Shea of Breaffy put in a man of the match performance to help his side to a semi-final victory.
Breaffy upset the odds to deservedly beat hot favourites Castlebar Mitchels in the first of the Mayo SFC semi-finals in Charlestown this afternoon.
Inspired by a man of the match performance from the outstanding Aidan O’Shea, the underdogs were never behind and held off a late Mitchels rally to progress to their fifth county senior final in 11 seasons.
Having already knocked out defending champions, Westport, in the quarter-finals, Breaffy played with confidence from start to finish and took the game to their neighbours from the throw-in.
They led at half-time by 0-6 to 0-3 and when Davitt Neary finished a sweeping move to the net five minutes after the restart, Breaffy found themselves ahead by 1-6 to 0-4.
But Castlebar Mitchels — who had only converted a quarter of the scoring chances they created in the opening half — came roaring back and, with a strong wind behind them, got back on level terms inside seven minutes.
A series of power-plays, most of them involving the excellent Paddy Durcan, led to five long-range points without reply from substitute Ethan Gibbons, Bob Tuohy (2), Durcan and Donie Newcombe to level the match for only the second time.
This set up a thrilling last 25 minutes as both teams went in search of the match-winning scores.
The decision of Breaffy manager Konrad Coghill to move Aidan O’Shea to midfield proved a masterstroke, as did the introduction of experienced substitutes James Minogue and Colm Flynn.
This trio made some vital plays around the middle and O’Shea also drew two fouls which Breaffy converted to edge two points ahead again.
O’Shea himself scored the first with Flynn also on target to leave the outsiders ahead by 1-8 to 0-9 after 51 minutes.
Mitchels did hit back with a magnificent long-range point from Conor Stenson but, surprisingly, the team managed by Barry Moran and Neil Lydon failed to score in the final 15 minutes that were played.
They did create a number of chances but their shortcomings up front came back to haunt them, while Paddy Heneghan also saw his effort to hit an equaliser from distance come back off the post.
Mitchels substitute Aidan Walsh was also shown a black card at a crucial juncture.
Breaffy struck for the insurance score two minutes into added time when an incisive move ended with Daire Morrin clipping the last point of a gripping second half.
Paddy Durcan did try to manufacture a late winning goal for Castlebar with a typical barnstorming run, but Breaffy’s Rory Martyn managed to scramble the ball away to safety.
The final whistle confirmed Breaffy’s return to the County Final for the first time since 2020.
They will attempt to win their Moclair Cup when they take on either Ballina Stephenites or Knockmore who meet in the second semi-final on Sunday afternoon.
J Livingstone (0-1, 45); C Beirne, M Dervan, C Melly; D Livingstone, M Hall, D Morrin; C O’Shea, M Ruane; D Neary (1-0), R Fadden, R Martyn (0-1); T O’Reilly, A O’Shea (0-4, 3fs), O Tunney (0-1).
C Flynn (0-1, 1f) for O’Reilly (43); J Minogue for Tunney (51); C Kelly for C O’Shea (64).
: R Byrne; M Dolan, J Tuohy, S Morahan; M Fahy, P Durcan (0-2), D Newcombe (0-1); D McHugh, B Tuohy (0-2); U O’Reilly, P Heneghan (0-1), A O’Boyle; M Cunningham (0-1), G Durcan, N Douglas.
J Durcan for Dolan (HT); E Gibbons (0-2) for Douglas (HT); C Stenson (0-1) for O’Boyle (37); J Cunningham for Newcombe (50); A Walsh for M Cunningham.
L Devenney (Ballina Stephenites).
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