Garrymore native wins two All-Ireland tickets

Garrymore native wins final tickets


Mike Finnerty

GARRYMORE native Brendan McHugh will be going to the All-Ireland football finals later this month after he emerged as the winner of The Mayo News ‘All-Ireland Final Fantasy XV’ competition.
The competition to select the ‘Fantasy Mayo XV’ from the All-Ireland finals of 1989, 1996, 1997, 2004 and 2006 drew a phenomenal response with €1,000 being raised for the Mayo Renal Dialysis Unit.
The ‘Final Fantasy XV’ selection (published below) was picked last week by an expert panel of judges that was made up of Sean Rice (Mayo News columnist), Martin Carney (RTE pundit), Billy Fitzpatrick (Mid West Radio analyst), Michael Foley (The Sunday Times) and Mick Byrne (well-known Mayo supporter).
Brendan, who now lives in Ballymote in Co Sligo, selected 13 of the 15 players that were chosen by the expert panel and wins two tickets to the All-Ireland football final and overnight accommodation in Dublin.
“I’m delighted,” said Brendan when contacted by The Mayo News. “With the Mayo minors being involved I was hoping to get a ticket for the All-Ireland through my club here in Sligo. If I’d got one, I would definitely have gone anyway. But I can’t believe I’ve won the competition to be honest.
“I spent a couple of hours one night picking my team but I never imagined for one minute that I’d win. It’s great, especially with Mayo being involved in the minor final and Shane Nally, a Garrymore man, being captain.”
McHugh plays club football in Sligo with Eastern Harps and lines out in a county semi-final next weekend. He is originally from the village of Crossboyne (the same area as Shane Nally) and is a first cousin of former Garrymore footballers, TJ and Danny McHugh.
Speaking after the selection meeting last week, Mick Byrne admitted that it wasn’t an easy team to pick.
“I know everyone won’t agree with our selection but I think we did a great job. It was very difficult, particularly in relation to a few positions, and I have to say that picking a Mayo team is definitely not as easy as it looks. There were a lot of very good footballers to choose from and, unfortunately, some had to lose out.”

THE FINAL XV
1 Peter Burke
2 Kenneth Mortimer
3 Kevin Cahill
4 Keith Higgins
5 David Heaney
6 James Nallen
7 Noel Connelly
8 Liam McHale
9 TJ Kilgallon
10 Alan Dillon
11 WJ Padden
12 Noel Durkin
13 Ciaran McDonald
14 James Horan
15 Kevin McStay