Curtain comes down on memorable Mayo soccer league season

The curtain has fallen on another memorable season of Mayo soccer. The campaign was chock-a-block with a plethora of wild moments, high emotion, broken records, and everything in between.

This weekend was no different, with wild results as final placings and rankings were secured. Here, we’ll bring you up to speed with the manic happenings from around the county.

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SUPER LEAGUE

Castlebar Celtic made Mayo soccer history in producing a flawless season, and they got their weekend underway in fine fashion with a romping 10-0 win over Ballyhaunis Town.

Dylan Felle (2), Dylan Edwards, Luke Kelly (3), Johnny Cocozza (2), Ben Murphy (2), and a Mohamed Abdouni own-goal supplied the goals.

The scoreline of the weekend in the top flight undoubtedly went to Ballyhaunis Town and Conn Rangers on Sunday. Adam Gallagher opened the scoring for Rangers, but Adnan Hamze pulled one back quickly. Evan Reape put visitors Conn Rangers back up, but the hosts were relentless as Abdouni found the net.

Reape and Hamze exchanged blows once more, before Eoin Prendergast gave his side a narrow 4-3 lead at the break. JP Collins doubled the lead soon after, but James Powers halved the deficit.

Mikey McHale put it out to two, but another Powers goal set up a grandstand finish. In injury time, Tom Ruane secured a hard-fought 5-7 win.

Kevin Kitterick, Sehii Morahenko, and Sean Heaney secured a 3-0 Westport United win over Manulla.

Stanislas Emond and Nike Petrovic looked to have secured a win for Ballinrobe Town, but visitors Ballina Town fought back to secure a draw with late strikes from David O’Mahoney.

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PREMIER LEAGUE

Claremorris put in a fine performance to secure their place in the Super League next season as they dominated in a 12-0 win over Ballyheane ‘B’. Liam McCormack (3), Evan Gannon (2), Simon Butler (3), Jason Murphy (2), and David McCracken (2) with the goals.

Iorras Aontaithe gave themselves a shot of going up with a 4-1 win over Ballyglass, but would have been concerned when they went behind early on. A stunning four-goal haul from veteran Brendan Nallen turned the tables.

Elsewhere, Castlebar Celtic ‘B’ were in fine fettle themselves in their 6-0 win over Crossmolina. Tiernan Brady netted four in that one.

LEAGUE ONE

There was plenty of drama in the title race, and full reports are included in the sports section of this week’s Mayo News.

The spectacle wasn’t confined to those two games, though, as tight one-goal wins were a recurring theme.

Christopher Kerins got the ball rolling from the spot for Ballyvary Blue Bombers in their clash with Conn Rangers ‘B’, but Ronan Weir and JP Collins flipped the script at half-time. Kerins made it 2-2 seconds after the restart, before Keelan Jordan put Rangers back in front.

Substitute Browne looked to have secured a draw for the Bombers, but, at the death, Weir popped up to spark wild scenes with his winner.

The Bangor Hibs-Partry Athletic game also looked destined for a share of the spoils after Bangor’s early David Conroy strike was crossed out by Fianach MacGabhann’s leveller. Eight minutes from time, Brian McHale did the business for Bangor to get them over the line.

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LEAGUE TWO

Both of the top two, Achill Rovers and Castlebar Town, were emphatic in their victories, with Achill ending their title-winning drive with a 3-0 win over Ballinrobe Town B. Micheál Moran scored an outstanding free kick to give Rovers the lead, and a Tristan Carolan header from a James O’Hara corner made it 2-0. Brandon McGing played Sean ‘Lively’ McNamara through for a third as Rovers finished the league season with 15 wins from 16 games and a points total of 45.

In the other two ties, Glenhest Rovers ‘B’ coasted to a 4-0 win over Westport United ‘C’, while Michael Gill’s 74th-minute net-shaker was enough to earn a draw for Crossmolina ‘B’ against their Manulla counterparts.