Bangor Hibs win the Mayo Masters league against rivals Partry

Bangor Hibs made it a return to remember in the Mayo Football League as their Masters side won the Division Three Playoff against rivals Partry Athletic 6-4 in a thriller at Umbro Park.

Both teams were neck and neck all season, finishing on the same number of points at the end of the league phase. In addition, both had scored the same number of goals (79) and had one win over the other.

The sides were coming into this playoff final on the back of contrasting fortunes in the Oliver Kelleher Masters Cup semi-finals the previous week. Partry Athletic had beaten reigning Masters Cup champions Westport United 5-4 while Hibs had lost by the same scoreline to Division One champions Ballyglass despite playing with an extra man for the second half.

In an ironic twist, Bangor would be the ones a man down in the second half of this contest but rallied superbly to win the title thanks in no small part to Mikie Sweeney, who scored four of Bangor’s six and played an integral part in everything the boys in blue did.

Partry were missing their own star man, Sligo Rovers manager John Russell, who picked up an injury the night before and is a doubt for next week’s Cup final. However, Partry have shown they are capable of coping without the services of Russell this season and were the better side in the first half. Mark Gibbons and Kevin Dolan had early chances before Partry broke the deadlock after John Byrne was picked out by Pat Kelly in the penalty area to bundle in.

Partry goalkeeper Sean Bourke denied Thomas Murphy and Pat Gaughan before Sweeney curled in a beautiful effort off the right foot on 16 minutes to level it. Three minutes later, he doubled Bangor’s advantage from a free-kick drilled low into the corner.

Kyle Holmes came to the rescue to deny Mark Gibbons late in half before Partry were awarded a penalty after Kieran Gallagher handled the ball on the line. He was shown a straight red card and Gibbons calmly tucked the penalty away.

In the final action of the half, Kevin Dolan struck one out of nowhere to put Partry ahead but seconds after the restart, a corner whipped was tapped in at the far post for Sweeney to complete his hat trick.

Sweeney put Bangor ahead with a stunning left foot volley but Partry levelled it again five minutes later as Gibbons scored a second. Partry began to push forward with the extra man but were unable to breach the goal of Kyle Holmes again while Phil Thompson, Patrick Barrett and Shane Lindsay were unbreachable.

As Partry pushed on, they were caught on the break and Pat Gaughan put Bangor ahead after a clever through ball by Thomas Murphy and they repeated the trick seconds later, Sweeny this time delivering the killer pass for Gaughan to score a second goal and ultimately secure the title.

Bangor Hibs: Kyle Holmes, Shane Lindsay, Patrick Barrett, Kieran Gallagher, Patrick Gaughan, Thomas Murphy, Mikie Sweeney, Thomas Meenaghan, Phil Thompson, Michael Doocey.

Partry Athletic: Sean Bourke, Brendan Garry, Mark Gibbons, Pat Kelly, John Byrne, Kevin Dolan, Brian Naughton, Derek O’Sullivan, Danny Lydon.

REF: Tom Jennings.

Credit: Mayo Football League