Ryan's return earns Belmullet massive victory over Castlebar

GAA - MAYO SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

Castlebar Mitchels 0-12

Belmullet 1-15

In Josie Munnelly Park

Another day, another blockbuster result in Group Two of the Mayo Senior Championship.

Ryan O'Donoghue had barely set foot off the plane from Chicago, but he picked up right where he left off, terrorising opponents and putting on a masterclass to help Belmullet record a fine victory over Castlebar Mitchels on Saturday evening.

Let's make no bones about it; this was a poor showing from Castlebar, who seemed to redefine the word wasteful at times. However, that takes nothing away from a gutsy and stupendous victory for the away team, who end the weekend top of the table.

The first half was a tale of wasted opportunities for the Mitchels, who conspired to have double the wides and shorts as they had points. The percentages went down after the changeover, but statisticians would weep at such waywardness.

In contrast, the Barony Boys were clinical with the chances that fell their way, and it took until the first period of injury time for them to misplace a shot.

James Ivers opened the scoring before Ryan O’Donoghue sold Mark Dolan to score his first point after returning from Stateside.

A pair of Ethan Gibbons scores returned a sense of parity for the county town boys.

Ryan and Fionn O’Donoghue’s one-two brought success and a white flag to boot, but that lead lasted 40 seconds as Conor Stenson opened his 2025 championship account.

That 14th-minute attempt was the last for Kevin Filan’s troops before the break, as their efficiency dried up. In the other dugout, Kieran Lavelle would have been more than pleased with how his lads applied themselves.

O’Donoghue had his third on the turn of the quarter, and Shane Nallen converted a '45 after a half-goal chance for Fionnan Ryan was turned behind.

Wing-back James Ivers got in on the act, adding to his excellent work as a driving force in red and white, and his sprint stats were only matched by Daithí Walsh and Damien Lavelle, the ever-busy Belmullet physios.

Fionn O’Donoghue closed out the first-half scoring.

There was a big call at the other end for reiteoir John Glavey when it looked like Gibbons had been hauled down in the parallelogram. Instead, he opted for a hop ball, leaving the gap standing at four for the break.

Inter-county marksman O’Donoghue kept the Erris men ticking over with the first point of the second half.

The home side then sprung their own men fresh off the plane in Sean Morahan and Bob Tuohy, and it was the latter who linked up with fellow half-time switch Cian Walsh to open their second-half innings.

Fionn O’Donoghue and Paddy Durcan, on a foray forward, swapped points, and an Ethan Gibbons free had the hosts within touching distance. Then came a moment of magic.

One tackle. Two tackles. Three tackles. Four. Ryan O’Donoghue somehow made his way through them all, and when he rolled the ball under Rory Byrne, the fans who made their way along the R312 went buck wild.

Ethan Gibbons popped over a placed ball, but O’Donoghue had found the groove Mayo fans have become so accustomed to seeing, and a pair of two-pointers had the gap out to nine.

With twelve minutes to go, there was little doubt there’d be some kickback from Castlebar, and a Rory Byrne orange flag, allied to singles from Joe Forry and Neil Douglas had the gap narrowed to four.

The visitors held firm, though, and saw the game out in a professional and diligent fashion, with another O’Donoghue free and a Shane Nallen '45 earning a valuable win in this bear fight of a group.

A full report, plus reaction, will be carried in Tuesday’s edition of The Mayo News.