Mayo League divisional cup glory for Ballina Town and Ballyheane

Ballina Town are the Westaro Cup Champions while the McDonnell Cup was won by Ballyheane B as there were also some crucial games in the Premier Division and League One

Westaro Cup Final

Ballina Town are the Westaro Cup Champions after a 3-1 win over Westport United at a sundrenched Solar 21 Park on Sunday afternoon.

The north Mayo side proved to be too strong for a young Westport side as they had too much firepower up front with Benny Lavelle leading the line for Mark Beattie’s side. After a cagey opening thirty five minutes Lavelle opened the scoring when his powerful shot from just inside the area flew past Gary Cunningham in the Westport goal after some good work down the right wing by Oleg Vysochan.

Ballina’s lead didn’t last for long as Westport were level eight minutes later when they capitalised and a bit of good fortune as Matt Hamilton went down with a hamstring injury as Westport attacked and Patrick Moran’s right wing cross was met first time by Darren Browne who’s shot flew past Emmet Peyton and into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

Lavelle had Ballina back in front after only seven minutes of the second half as he came short for a quick throw from Stephen Melvin and turned to shoot through a crowd from twenty five yards and it beat everyone and nestled into the bottom corner of the Westport goal.

Benny then almost completed his hat-trick as he hit the crossbar minutes later but the crucial third goal did arrive only thirteen minutes later when Dylan McKee made no mistake as he was sent through on goal by a brilliant pass from Ryan Moran. Westport pushed forward but the Ballina defence led by Ollie Feeney and Chris Moore never looked in any danger and the Town comfortably held out to win yet another final at Solar 21 Park.

McDonnell Cup Final

In the curtain raiser at Solar 21 Park Ballyheane B are the McDonnell Cup winners after a 2-1 win over Partry Athletic.

All of the goals arrived in the closing fifteen minutes of the first half as the game came to when Darragh Scollan gave Ballyheane the lead on thirty two minutes. Scollan pounced as a free kick from Ashley Stevenson wasn’t dealt with by the Partry defence and the young midfielder didn’t need to be asked twice as he forced the ball over the line from four yards.

Partry nearly fell further behind when Liam Burke pounced on an error in the defence but his shot came back off the crossbar but just a minute later the second goal arrived when the ball was taken off the toe of Partry keeper Sean Og Burke by Liam Morris who had the simplest of tasks as he tapped the ball into the empty net.

This woke Partry into life and they pulled a goal back almost immediately as a well worked set piece seen Fianach McGabhann score at the back post after Ciaran Hennelly found space on the right hand side of the penalty area.

In the second half Partry threw everything at Ballyheane but it wasn’t to be for Neil Donnelly’s side who have now lost eight finals in a row at the headquarters of the Mayo League.

CastleCourt Hotel Premier Division

A depleted Moy Villa side dropped three points in the race for promotion as Kiltimagh/Knock United B took advantage of the challenges Mick Duffy’s side are facing with a 6-2 win at CMS Park.

It was a huge win for John Tarpey’s side who themselves moved up to sixth in the table and a step closer to survival. David Smith gave the home side the lead just before the half hour mark as cut through the Moy Villa defence before firing the ball into the top left hand corner of the net. Liam McCormack then doubled their lead from close range as he got on the end of a throw from Matty Leadbetter just before half-time.

Kiltiamgh/Knock then made it three early in the second half when McCormack got his second of the day from the spot after he was taken down by Moy Villa keeper Barry Nestor inside the area. John Durkan pulled goal back for Moy Villa twenty minutes later as he also converted a penalty after John Judge was fouled in the area but Kiltimagh/Knock added two goals inside a few minutes to kill off the game as David Smith got his second of the day and Luke Bennett tapped home a cross from Rafael Costa to make it five.

Moy Villa did get a second but Costa completed the scoring in the final few minutes to earn his side a vital three points in their bid for survival.

Westport United B got back to winning ways and back into the title race with a 3-1 win over neighbours Fahy Rovers at United Park.

Jesper Frisch has recently transferred to the B team from the Super League side and he hit a brace in the win for Joe Kelly’s side with the other goal coming through Brandon Scahill. Frisch opened the scoring when he got on the end of a cross from Scahill and then he doubled their lead before the break with an excellent finish from inside the area after he got on the end of a through ball from Alan Carroll.

Scahill added a third inside the opening fifteen minutes of the second half when his cross come shot across the six yard box found the back of the net. Fahy pulled a goal back with twenty minutes to go but that was as good as it got for John Creaby's side

Killala looked like a side odds on for relegation a few weeks ago but they have turned their season around as they picked up three points for the second time in a row with a 2-0 win over Ballyglass at The Courthouse.

A goal in either half from Tommy Loftus moved them to within three points of safety and also dragged Ballyglass into the relegation fight as they lie only a further point ahead as we head into the last third of the season.

Killeen Sports Ground League One

Manulla B kept their promotion hopes alive with a 2-1 win over Westport United C in the early game in League One on Sunday morning. The goals came from Cian Benson and Jason Barrett in an important win over a relegation threatened Westport side. Damien Joyce’s side are no five points off second place Kilmore but a defeat to Ballinrobe next weekend will all but end their chances of promotion.

Ballinrobe Town edged closer to promotion with a second 4-0 win over Hollister in eight days.

Just a week after they met in the Tonra Cup Final Ballinrobe headed to Belleek to take on Vinny Coen’s side and once again they proved too strong thanks to a hat-trick from JP O’Gorman and another goal from Danny O’Toole.

A win next weekend against Manulla B will all but seal a second promotion in two years for Pat O’Sullivan’s side.

A strong second half display by Kilmore saw them all but end Achill Rovers dreams of promotion as the home side recorded a 3-1 win over the Islanders in Drum.

James Kelly broke the deadlock with a superb free-kick early in the second half and Justin Healy and Mark Gilbert followed this up with two goals in quick succession to leave the north Mayo side in control and they seen out the game comfortably even though Achill did get a consolation goal late in the game.

- Report courtesy of the Mayo Football League

*Full match reports from both finals and the Under 21 League match between Castlebar Celtic and Conn Rangers in tomorrow's print edition.