Mayo GAA club manager steps down after avoiding dreaded relegation

The Mayo GAA Intermediate Championship Relegation Final was won by Louisburgh in extremely dramatic fashion.

Dylan Prendergast kicked a two-point free with seconds to play for.

He audaciously decided to bring back a one-point free and go for the win directly, as Louisburgh were down by one point at that stage.

The ball sailed between the Burrishoole sticks and ensured intermediate status for Louisburgh.

What a way to sign off on the season for the men from the shadow of the reek.

Louisburgh manager Eugene O'Toole announced his decision to step down after the match:

“I think I aged a bit in the last 15-20 minutes,” O'Toole admitted speaking to The Mayo News after the wild celebrations from his team had died down a bit.

“It was heart in the mouth kind of stuff, but we got there in the end. I feel absolutely relieved now,” O'Toole said.

And the now former Louisburgh manager spared a thought for the opposition team, that has now been relegated to junior football:

“I know somebody has to go down every year, and it's hard on Burrishoole. They've been up for quite a number of years. Relegation, it's a dogfight, and however you get out of it, it doesn't really matter as long as you do, and we left it really late. It doesn't matter to us, we played to the final buzzer, and that's what we talked about during the week.”

Indeed, Louisburgh were eight points down with only 15 minutes to go.

O'Toole explains, the goal for Louisburgh then, scored by Eddie Ball flipped the script for the men in black and amber:

“And the nature of the game nowadays, of course, with the two-pointers and all that, any eight-point lead, we always spoke about it, it's not a huge gap,” O'Toole pointed out: “We felt there was a goal in us at some stage, we talked about it at half-time, but when it came, we really went after the game after that, and built on that.”

Commenting on Dylan Prendergast, who had missed four two-point frees during the game, and then decided to go for the two in the dying moments, O'Toole diplomatically said:
“I think it was a split decision on the line, but I'd back Dylan from those positions any day. No better guy to take that shot, and sometimes when you have a chance to win a game, you'd argue it's better to take it there than take a chance in extra time, so I think he made the right decision.”