Eastern Gaels book Mayo JFC semi-final spot with late flourish

Eastern Gaels 1-15

Ballycroy 0-11

In Brickens

With this game going into the final quarter and the Gaels leading by five, there was still every chance that either side could progress to the Mayo Junior semi-finals.

However, when Jack Madden bizarrely rattled the net from a mark, he killed off any chances of a Ballycroy comeback, ensuring his men would be looking ahead to last-four action next weekend.

The dream has died for Ballycroy, but those brave soldiers can take plenty of solace from etching themselves into club folklore by making knockout football for the first time in a generation.

That said, Gaels will obviously be the more satisfied as they stand two steps from Pete McDonnell.

The Ballycroy battalion got off to a great start in their first knockout tie of the millennium, as Stephen Grealis found the posts after all of 30 seconds.

From there, though, the Gaels found their groove.

Senan Guilfoyle, as he so often does, found the posts from distance to flip the tables and score a two-pointer, before Charlie Johnstone cut in to clip over.

David Smith did likewise, and when a swift hand-passing move saw Johnstone add a second, Brickens’ finest were motoring well.

The aforementioned Smith almost had a goal to complement his point, but his effort was a touch off as it rattled the right stick.

In fact, had the N60siders been a touch less wasteful with the sticks at their mercy, they could have opened up an unassailable lead.

That said, they were particularly sharp in the opening quarter, and a Senan Guilfoyle 45 had them six up.

In fact, before minute 25 the chasm was out to eight.

From there, The Erris nation dug deep and built up a head of steam, having joy on kickouts and causing a bit of chaos in the home rearguard.

James Deane ended the 23-minute drought, but after two examples of midfield mastery, the ball found its way to Stephen Grealis once more.

The flame-haired forward has plenty of talent with a mic in his hand, but he proved he can mix it with a ball in his mitts too, and he brought the gap back to five.

He almost found the net to narrow the gap even more, but his attempt was from too acute of an angle, and Ronan Forde had little hassle swiping away the O’Neills to keep it at five at the break.

Guilfoyle and Madden got the ball rolling in Act Two for the men in white, but Michael Conway’s two point placed ball had the game looking interesting with 20 to go.

Captain Evan Godfrey, on for the Gaels at half-time, surged through the middle to get his first, but before long Kevin Ginty offered a response in a tit-for-tat opening quarter.

Ginty and Godfrey exchanged another set of white flags, before the moment which took the tie away from the side making the long trip East.

Jack Madden had earned a mark, and with everyone in the ground distracted, including ‘keeper Jack Deane, he sent it into the net, sparking wild scenes.

That moved the gap out to nine, and essentially beyond the men from the barony.

Guilfoyle notched another, before the Ballycroy plight was further heightened by Raymond Grealis being shown red for what could only be described as a series of comings together involving the number 14.

Rory and Michael Conway did add a few scores going down the home stretch, but their historic run was over, as Eastern Gaels ensured their name would be in the hat for the semi-final draw.

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