Ballina Town see off brave Bangor Hibs to claim McDonnell Cup

McDonnell Cup Final

Ballina Town B 3

R Moran, 31

J Durkan 37, 42

Bangor Hibs 1

D Conroy 19

In Milebush

An impressive start wasn’t enough for Bangor Hibs to win their first piece of silverware since re-entering the Mayo Football League as Ballina Town claimed the McDonnell Cup this afternoon.

Goals from the excellent John Durkan (2) and Ryan Moran saw the North Mayo men prevail over an Erris side that gave a fine account of themselves in this cup final.

This game was played to an impressive standard from start to finish and produced a goal after 19 minutes when Brian McHale crossed the ball in from the right to David Conroy, who put Bangor Hibs 1-0 up.

It wasn’t until after the half-hour mark that Ballina Town finally rose to the challenge posed by the barony boys.

With a first-time finish, Durkan levelled after a superb through-ball from Ryan Moran before the striker put them 2-1 up with a beautiful curler in the 37th minute.

Moran added a second goal after controlling the ball impressively in the box before sticking it in the net.

The teams were gridlocked in the second half, which was equally as high-octane as the first half, but produced no goals.

Ballina Town missed chances to make it a three-goal game, but had already done enough to claim the silverware, which was hoisted by their captain Ted Horan at the end.

A full match report, plus reaction, will be carried in Tuesday’s Mayo News Sport.