Lahardane the last men standing

ON paper, it looked like being a tough weekend for Mayo club football, and so it proved as the county’s representatives in the Senior and Intermediate club championship both exited at the Connacht semi-final stage. But at least the Junior team from Lahardane saved the county’s blushes on Sunday in MacHale Park when they won a dramatic penalty shoot-out against Menlough to advance to the final.
Corofin have spent a couple of years rebuilding their once-dominant side, and on Saturday they simply had too much guile and know-how for a decimated Ballina Stephenites side.
The loss of Padraic O’Hora, Dylan Thornton and Ger Cafferkey to injury meant the Ballina squad was stretched to the limit, and despite a brave battle, they couldn’t find enough scores to really trouble Corofin.
Niall Heffernan though will be rightly proud of the 2023 season for the north Mayo club. They shrugged off the disappointment of losing the 2022 final to Westport and played some lovely football on the way to the final against Breaffy. The final, as we all know, was a dour affair but the Moclair Cup will spend the next few months on the banks for the Moy and Ballina will no doubt enjoy the Christmas festivities before trying to retain their title in 2024.
Another club sure to enjoy their Christmas will be Kilmeena – although they will be kicking themselves over the next few days after an agonising defeat to Monivea Abbey in Tuam on Sunday.

Penalty miss
DARRAGH Keaveney has been outstanding for the west Mayo men for the last number of years but his late penalty miss proved costly as John Reilly’s men lost out in injury time.
This group of players have found themselves in four county finals in a row over the last four years so although they will naturally be very disappointed this week, their bodies will only be too glad to have a proper rest before they take on the big challenge of senior football in 2024.
They certainly look well equipped to make their mark at the highest level with loads of young talent in their squad for next year.
So the only Mayo team who will play in a Connacht club final this year are the men from Lahardane. They did it the hard way by having to go all the way to penalties to defeat Galway’s Menlough, but they are back in the final for the first time since 2017.
Eddie Conroy’s team did not play their best football on Sunday, but they showed real guts and determination to take the game to penalties and scoring all five of those kicks was no mean feat under such pressure. They now play Leitrim’s Owenmore Gaels in the final and they will likely start favourites to get into an All-Ireland semi-final.
There has been plenty of talk suggesting that Mayo club football is at a low ebb, but on closer examination, both Corofin and Monivea Abbey look to be very strong teams. Both will now try and have a real go at bringing an All-Ireland title west of the Shannon. Lahardane will now be dreaming of doing exactly that too.