Ballina pull off incredible comeback to win Mayo football final
Ballina Stephenites players celebrate with the Paddy Moclair Cup after they defeated Westport to claim their third consecutive title. Pic: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile
It’s hard to imagine this thrilling replay of the Mayo senior football championship final being known as anything other than ‘The Evan Regan final’ in years to come.
The Ballina Stephenites captain emerged as his team’s hero and saviour in the last 15 minutes, shooting 1-4, including a spectacular two-pointer and the winning point, as the defending champions came from 10 points down to break Westport’s hearts.
Regan levels the Mayo Senior final with a crucial 2️⃣ pointer!
— StreamSport.ie (@StreamsportI) October 25, 2025
📺 Watch 👉 https://t.co/6XcYnJsVH4@MayoGAA pic.twitter.com/zHJD3fiLpy
Regan’s winning score arrived in the fifth minute of added time, just six days after his team-mate, Frank Irwin, had drilled a two-point free four minutes into stoppage time to earn Ballina a second shot at this title.
That is how close Westport came on two occasions to upsetting the odds and winning the Moclair Cup for the second time in four seasons, and just the second time in their history. But Ballina refused to be beaten, and have now joined the ranks of three-in-a-row county champions.
It will take Westport some time to figure out exactly how they lost this game.
Pat Holmes’ team played some scintillating football for 52 minutes and deservedly led by 1-14 to 0-7 after Finbarr McLaughlin clipped a lovely score that left Ballina in dire straits.
🤯 THE EVAN REGAN SHOW!
— StreamSport.ie (@StreamsportI) October 25, 2025
Ballina have won the Mayo Senior Football Championship with the last kick of the game after an unbelievable comeback against @westportgaa
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McLaughlin had also pounced for Westport’s goal after only 14 seconds that propelled the outsiders into an unlikely lead.
The 2022 champions never looked back from there, and with teenager Joey Holmes leading their forward line brilliantly, and shooting three fine points, they had Ballina chasing shadows for long spells.
Westport were in total control of the contest at the interval, leading by 1-10 to 0-6, with a terrific two-pointer from Rory Brickenden on the stroke of half-time sending them to the dressing-rooms with a spring in their step.
At that stage the West Mayo side had made light of the loss of their injured captain, Lee Keegan, who had been ruled out of the replay with a knee injury.
The Stephenites had been outplayed all over the field in that opening half but were staying in the game thanks to scores from Evan Regan (3, including a trademark two-pointer), Frank Irwin and Padraig O‘Hora.
The third quarter continued along similar lines as Ballina struggled to get going and Westport controlled the pace and tempo of the game all over the field.
A string of frees from Killian Kilkelly kept them comfortably ahead while the Stephenites could manage a single score down at the other end in the opening 20 minutes of the second half, a free from Evan Regan. The loss of Padraig O’Hora to an injury seemed like the final straw at the time for them.
Westport also lost the inspirational Eoghan McLaughlin to injury after 48 minutes but it didn’t seem likely to affect the outcome as his brother, Finbarr, tagged on a neat score to push the challengers ahead by 10 points after 50 minutes.
At that moment, the outcome seemed set in stone.
But everything changed when a quickly-taken free from Evan Regan flew into the Westport net via a deflection in the 51st minute.
Five minutes later Paddy O’Malley was picking the ball out of his net again after Dylan Thornton fisted Regan’s delivery into the net to cut the gap to four points. Now it was game on.
Kilkelly did stem the tide with a Westport free soon after, but the momentum was now with Ballina and they continued to drive forward, with the likes of Sam Callinan and Frank Irwin playing major parts.
Irwin and Conor McStay kicked points to keep the comeback going as the match ticked into added time and it was at this stage that Regan took centre-stage.
The former Mayo forward kicked a point from a free before drilling over a two-pointer to level the game for the first time in the 64th minute.
That score came after a passage of play where Ballina held the ball for almost two minutes, stitching together 22 passes before Regan pounced.
Extra-time seemed almost certain at that juncture but there was still time for Ballina to win possession from the Westport kick-out and get the ball through to their most prolific forward. Regan did the rest, delivering the score that won the day and the three-in-a-row.
Westport players fell to their knees when the final whistle sounded seconds later.
D Clarke; L Golden, L Jordan, C Boland; S Callinan, P O’Hora (0-1), D Tighe; M Murray (0-1), F Irwin (0-2); D Thornton (1-0), C McStay (0-1), N Feeney; E Regan (1-8, 1-0f, 2tp, 2fs), J Irwin, L Doherty.
C Treacy for Feeney (31); S Regan for O’Hora (42, inj); L Feeney for J Irwin (44); B Thornton for Boland (51).
P O’Malley (0-2, 1tpf); B Doyle, N McManamon, B McDermott; C Dawson, E McLaughlin, F McLaughlin (1-1); R Brickenden (0-2, 1tp), R Askin; L Tunney, M Moran (0-1), B O’Malley; L Silke, K Kilkelly (0-6, 6fs), J Holmes (0-3).
J Grady for Askin (HT); T Lambert for McLaughlin (48, inj); K Keane for Tunney (55); C Moran for M Moran (64).
K Connelly (Hollymount/Carramore)
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