Much-loved staff member remembered as Mayo College come to the fore

Corn Cuimhneachain Fiachra Mac Gabhainn

Mayo College 8-10

Sligo CFE 3-8

In Connacht COE

A much-loved and integral member of the teaching staff on the campuses of Mayo College was remembered wonderfully in the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence with a game of flowing, well-contested football recently.

Fiachra Mac Gabhanin left a hugely positive impression on all who encountered him in academia and many other fields and there were hugely positive emotions on view in Bekan when the Corn Cuimhneachain Fiachra Mac Gabhainn was presented to the winning captain, Luke lynch following Mayo College's hard-fought victory over their Sligo counterparts.

The old adage that goals win games came to the fore in this encounter as Mayo and Sligo met in the inaugural competition to remember Fiachra and the game was worthy of his memory.

The match started with both teams enjoying long periods of possession with little reward until a flowing move from Mayo left Ethan Mulchrone with space inside. His shot, although initially dealt with by the 'keeper, found its way into the net and Mayo College were in front.

This opened the floodgates and Mayo pressed up on the kick-outs and enjoyed lots of joy from this with Zach Wright causing all kinds of trouble for the Sligo CFE backline with his pace.

Mayo College added five more goals over the course of the half from Luke Burke, Zach Wright, Daithi McGroddy, Sean Gildea and Daniel Walsh.

To their credit, Sligo CFE never dropped their heads and got behind the Mayo half back line on many occasions but found Luke Lynch and Sean Murphy in excellent form in the full-back line and the duo regularly turned over possession and started attacks.

The second half started in a whirlwind for Sligo CFE and after winning possession from the throw in they found themselves through on goal only for Cormac Roddy to be taken down inside the square. The penalty was dispatched expertly by Marty McGarrigle who also added a point from the following kick-out.

However any chance of a comeback was short lived with Mayo College bringing on fresh legs and the replacements all made an impact.

Best for Mayo College were Oisin McManamon in goals, Sean Murphy, Mark Rattigan and Cormac Dillon in the back line while Sean Gildea and Samuel Thorton had command of midfield. Up front there were many excellent performances from Oisin O'Brien, Luke Burke, Ethan Mulcrone, Daniel Walsh and Zach Wright.

For Sligo CFE, Aidan Dowler and Mark McBride were solid at the back with Benny Nwai's performance in midfield gaining many admirers. Up front Cormac Roddy and Marty McGarrigle were to the fore.

In the end, the goals put a gloss on a really competitive game and Mayo College captain Luke Lynch was delighted to accept the Corn Cuimhneachain Fiachra Mac Gabhainn from Fintan’s wife Clodagh.

The hope is that this will be a competition run for many years to come and afterwards, both colleges extended a massive thanks to Connacht GAA for hosting the game in the dome. The students thoroughly enjoyed playing in one the finest facilities in Europe

MAYO COLLEGE: Oisin McManamon; Luke Lynch (C), Sean Murphy, Rhys Meagher; Mark Rattigan, Thomas Gannon, Cormac Dillon; Samuel Thorton, Sean Gildea; Rory O'Sullivan, Daithi McGroddy, Oisin O'Brien; Luke Burke, Ethan Mulchrone, Zach Wright.

Subs all used : Daniel Walsh, Dylan Swift, Darach Garvey, Declan Nohilly, John Ivan, Dylan Coughlan, Sean Hardagon