Barony boys Iorras Aontaithe building towards better days 

A Touhy Cup final in 2021, no team at all in 2022, a McDonnell Cup in 2023 and now a Tonra Cup for 2024.

It’s been an eventful few years for Iorras Aontaithe, where the tides of emigration, depopulation and the lure of other sports have made it tough to keep going at junior level.

That’s why days like these are so big for the most north-westerly soccer club in Ireland.

“It is a big day for the club, surely. Any day you get to a cup final is a big day for the club,” Iorras Aontaithe manager, Michael McHale, told The Mayo News after their Tonra Cup final win at a rain-soaked Umbro Park.

“It wasn't an easy one, in fairness. Swinford put up a good battle, they’ve a good team, we just got the goal at the start, the penalty, and kind of relaxed a bit in our own part. We didn’t drive on from that. Second half they had a bit more push, that kind of set things off.”

Second place in the third tier of Mayo soccer, with the largest goal difference in the league (+36) and with the top scorer in Division One (Dara Padden, 15 goals), Iorras Aontaithe were the favourites coming into this game.

Even though they had scored 15 goals in their two prior Tonra Cup games and were facing the eighth-placed team in Division One, the barony boys still weren’t quite sure what to expect from this cup final.

“We heard a few stories from bucks who know them down below and they’re fast, they’re quick, they’re young, it’s always a bit of trouble chasing them behind. When you clear the ball you have to chase the game so you’re never really calm on the pitch…so they put up a good performance,” Iorras Aontaithe captain, Aran Reilly, told The Mayo News.

So good, in fact, that a 36-year-old Ivan Barrett had to be sprung into action to catch the game by the scruff of the neck. 

His manager and teammates couldn’t praise him enough afterwards. 

“Jeez that experience to come off a bench and to get two goals like that it’s great to have that on the bench. The boys in the pitch got a great boost as well to see that. He’s great around the dressing room with the lads as well,” said McHale.

With promotion to the Premier League now in touching distance, Iorras Aontaithe know they have the talent to progress.

But wet, dirty dogfights of games like Sunday’s Tonra Cup final require something different.

“It just shows great character, when the going gets tough,” said Reilly.

“You see the boys, we do argue and all that but it’s all on the pitch. When the going gets tough they pull a shift through and they always give 110 percent. It’s really good to see.”