Late comeback earns Breaffy a draw in championship opener in Aghamore

GAA - MAYO SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

Aghamore 2-12

Breaffy 2-12

In Aghamore

In truth, this game looked gone from Breaffy at stages as Aghamore looked to be coasting to victory in the Mayo Championship opener.

A pair of exceptional frees from Aghamore net-minder Adam Byrne had the chasm widening, a 20-minute period with only one score to show, and the chink of light narrowing by the second.

However, a spectacular two-minute spell tore up that narrative, and come the final furlong, both sides were galloping neck and neck for the finish line.

By full-time, both had to settle for a share of the spoils, as Conor O’Shea’s two-pointer almost had him emerging as the hero for his side after he turned a minimal deficit into a slender lead.

However, it wasn’t enough, and the full-time whistle signalled a result that blows this group wide open.

The hosts found their feet early doors, with Tom O’Flaherty and Liam Lavin finding their range. Conor O’Shea and Lavin traded singles, before Aidan O’Shea rose like a salmon to turn Liam Irwin’s lob into the mixer into the net to put his side in front.

Lavin’s placed ball was the leveller, before Irwin marked his long absence from the red-hot glare of Mayo club championship fare with a free.

From there, Lavin produced an exquisite finish to lob Jack Livingstone for a goal. The Mayo hurling star kept on showing his ability with the big ball as he tagged on another white flag to push the lead out to three.

At the other end, inter-county talisman O’Shea rattled off another one, but causing damage to Paddy Finnegan’s men was proving a tall order.

Six minutes before half-time, Aghamore had another goal.

Fergal Boland got on the end of a sweeping team move to punish Breaffy and push the lead out to five.

It was looking hairy for Sean Deane’s charges at that stage, but Aidan O’Shea produced a fine two-pointer to leave just a goal between the sides as they headed for the clubhouse.

Aghamore continued to go about their business with composure and class, and when ‘keeper Adam Byrne clipped over a two-point free after 42 minutes, the atmosphere was electric inside the main stand.

However, Breaffy being Breaffy always manage to bring drama right to the death.

Davitt Neary’s missile wreaked havoc on the Aghamore rearguard, and when Aidan O’Shea fed ‘The Bear’, there was only one outcome. Goal.

Jack Livingstone emulated his Aghamore counterpart Byrne with an orange flag to leave the minimum between the sides.

When Conor O’Shea flipped the game, it looked over, but a Byrne free was enough to ensure parity, which lasted to the end.

A full report, plus reaction, will be carried in Tuesday’s edition of The Mayo News.