St Brendan's Belmullet bring Flanagan D Cup home after beating St Joseph's

MAYO PPS FLANAGAN D CUP FINAL

St Brendan's Belmullet 2-11

St Joseph's Foxford 1-7

In Crossmolina

IT was a well deserved victory for the boys from Belmullet. Their defensive work proved to be crucial this morning in St Tiernan's Park.

St Brendan's were trailing by two points going into the second half, but then they put a very tight squeeze on the St Joseph's kick-outs and closed the ranks in the backs. They only conceded a single point in the second period. 

In at times torrential rain during the first half, both teams did not hold back. The Erris outift had the upper hand in the first ten minutes.

Driven on by Belmullet senior full-forward Fionn O'Donoghue, Keelan Barrett and John Howard, they were up 0-3, when a superbly created goal by Jamie Reilly made it 1-3 to no score for St Brendan's.

But St Joseph's slowly but surely came alive and found their rhythm. Six different scorers ensured they would turn the tide come the half-time whistle. 

Especially Cian Fahy caught the eye, he was absolutely outstanding for the full sixty minutes.

His goal in the 28th minute was a brilliant effort. The midfielder turned around and lobbed the ball into the top corner, leaving the opposition goalkeeper no chance to save.

The most exciting duel was played out between St Joseph's full-back Kevin Moylett and St Brendan's full-forward Fionn O'Donoghue. 

St Joseph's were up 1-6 to 1-4 at half-time. But it was all St Brendan's afterwards. 

Only one point separated the two teams after 49 minutes. But two quick points and a goal by Tadgh Quinn ensured St Brendan's had a decent cushion going into the final minutes.

St Joseph's could have made matters more exciting, but a string of five wides, a missed goal chance among them, in the final minutes, meant there would be no heroic comeback on this day.

A full match report will be carried in Tuesday's Mayo News.

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