PREDICTIONS: Stage set for Mayo Championship semi-final sizzler

Crossmolina Deel Rovers v Westport

Father O’Hara Park, Charlestown

Saturday, October 4, 4 pm

Father O’Hara Park is primed for a battle right out of ‘Braveheart’ when the might of Crossmolina Deel Rovers come up against the sky-blue soldiers of Westport with Mayo Senior Championship destiny on the line.

Both sides wouldn’t have been top of the pile when many were casting their aspersions from the outset, yet here they are.

Come the close of business on Saturday, one of these footballing fraternities will be one hour from hoisting that glittering Paddy Moclair trophy into the heavens and lighting the bonfires that will warm the hearts of their town long into the winter.

On one side of this rendezvous is Crossmolina. The maroon men have been waiting for what seems like aeons to even be in the decider.

Cast your mind back to November 5, 2006. Amy Winehouse had just released ‘Rehab’. The Celtic Tiger was still roaring.

Crossmolina’s teenage sensation, Kobe McDonald, was far from the mind of his father, twinkletoes Ciaran McDonald, when he was man of the match for the side which captured the fifth Moclair Cup in eight years during a halcyon era on the banks of the Deel.

Those were the glory days for the club. Peadar Gardiner was the captain on that faithful day and led his warriors through an epic battle with Ballaghaderreen.

If you could hop in a time machine and tell them that they would not make one final since that fateful November day, Stephen Rochford, Joe Keane, and Brian Benson would surely have laughed in your face with medals weighing down their necks.

However, the inability to take to the stage under the bright lights of county final day has not presented itself even once. They have tried and tried, but to no avail.

NEW ERA

However, the latter of the aforementioned trio, Brian Benson, has reinvigorated his hometown club since becoming bainisteoir in 2021.

He took charge of a side that had slipped through the cracks in 2018, desperate to return to the glory days of old.

He took that baton and ran with it, taking them to not only county, but provincial and national intermediate honours to boot.

With the likes of Jordan Flynn reaching into the heavens themselves to pluck the O’Neill’s out of the sky, Conor Loftus pulling the strings quarter-back style, and Fionan Duffy able to cause a world of pain, they are a side to be feared.
And that’s without going into the abilities of a certain Mr McDonald.

They are a side for the new rules, where pace, power, and unwavering bravery are essential.

They’ll get their fill of it though when Westport touch down in Charlestown. The men from the banks of Clew Bay may have taken the Moclair back with them along the N5, but that will have done little to quench their insatiable thirst.

That day in 2022 when the Westport mafia descended on MacHale Park to see their heroes claim their maiden title was special.
Pat Holmes has bred into these bucks a resilience and doggedness which, truth be told, has been lacking at times.

The last day out was a prime example of this. With 19 minutes to go, many Westport heads would have already been drifting to how they could improve for 2026.

Then the unthinkable happened. To describe this comeback as Lazarus-like would be an understatement.

Westport clicked into gear, and then some. Colm Moran’s panache for big moments was on full display as his three-pointer at the death completed a turnaround to make bookmakers blush, while Conal Dawson was everywhere on the Breaffy turf.

Niall McManamon had a mammoth task, but he’s called ‘Glue’ for a reason, and he stuck to Aidan O’Shea better than Pritt Stick ever would.

By the time the full-time whistle shrilled, they were battered, bloodied, and heaving for breath, but more importantly, they were in the last four.

If the previously listed trio of talents can take that spell as inspiration to Charlestown, it’ll be one hell of a battle. Can they do that, though, is the real question.

These sides have not had much of a chance to get a run at building a rivalry at senior level, but the young cubs amongst the packs have been involved in many a war over the years as they have gone gung-ho for underage honours in recent times.

QUESTION TIME

Will those psychological battles throughout the age grade have any bearing on Sunday’s proceedings?

Can Rory Brickenden or Lee Keegan get to grips with Jordan Flynn? The midfielder was unplayable against Belmullet, but his fellow inter-county aces have plenty of tricks up their sleeve to potentially wrap him up.

Will the likes of Killian Kilkelly use their nous to evade the iron grip of Aaron Coggins and Kevin Mulhern? The Crossmolina rear division were rock-solid in ensnaring Ryan O’Donoghue, but how will they fare against an attacking phalanx with a more varied range of weapons?

Can Kobe McDonald, Niall Goggins, and company break down the door and cause McManamon to come unstuck?

Keeping Knockmore and Breaffy isolated is one thing, but when he has one of the most terrifying prospects in the county to contend with, can he rise to the occasion?

Father Time will bring the answer to all those unanswered questions. But for now, I’ll back Benson’s boys to punch their ticket to the decider, but not before a serious test of their credentials.

VERDICT: Crossmolina Deel Rovers