All you need to know after a hectic weekend on Mayo GAA scene

by Aiden Henry

THE draw for the Mayo senior, intermediate and junior football championship semi-finals has thrown up some very interesting encounters, along with the possibility of a repeat of last year's senior decider between Ballina Stephenites and Breaffy.

In the draw for the Connacht Gold Senior Football Championship, Ballaghaderreen and Knockmore had to be kept apart as they met previously in the group stages, so there was a good likelihood of Ballina and Breaffy being kept apart as well.

This is what turned out to be the case as Ballaghaderreen were drawn to play Ballina and Breaffy to play Knockmore.

A similar case applied in the Egan Jewellers Intermediate Football Championship in that Moy Davitts and Crossmolina Deel Rovers could not be drawn against each other in the semi-finals having met already in the group stages.

As a result, the line-up for the semi-finals is Moy Davitts v Davitts and Ballinrobe v Crossmolina.

The Treanlaur Catering Mayo Exlusive Junior A Football Championship semi-finals will see Swinford play Cill Chomáin and Eastern Gaels face Bonniconlon.

The senior relegation final will be between Belmullet and Kilmeena, and the intermediate relegation decider between Islandeady and Kiltimagh. All these games will be played this coming weekend.

SENIOR

The clash between Ballaghaderreen and Ballina (Sunday, October 6, 1.30 p.m. in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar) could be very interesting.

Ballaghaderreen showed they are real championship contenders following their big win over Ballintubber last weekend. They look like a team that is improving with each game.

Although they will be underdogs to beat Ballina, the fact that the Stephenites could be without Padraig O’Hora and Mikey Murrey, who both went off injured against Castlebar, would help the border men's cause.

It promises to be a close game that could go either way. However, the nod just goes to reigning champions, Ballina.

The second semi-final between Breaffy and Knockmore (Sunday, October 6, 3.30 p.m. in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar) has all the ingredients to be the game of the weekend.

Both sides recorded very impressive victories last weekend and seem to be at the top of their game. In addition to that, they are two very experienced sides who have been to the fore in the Mayo senior championship for a long number of years.

Again, this is a hard one to call. Even since Sean Deane took over in Breaffy a couple of months ago, they have improved to no end and will be full of confidence after beating Westport last weekend. I just think Breaffy might prove to be a bit too strong for Knockmore on the day.

In the senior relegation final, Kilmeena will be up against Belmullet (Saturday, October 5, 4.30 p.m. in Ballina). This will be a very close encounter but I think Kilmeena’s luck has to change sometime, and it might just be next weekend.

INTERMEDIATE

I think we could have two cracking intermediate semi-finals. It is anyone’s guess as to who will come out on top in the Moy Davitts versus Davitts clash (Saturday, October 5, 2.30 p.m. in Charlestown). Both had to pull out all the stops in their respective quarterfinal outings last weekend.

Indeed, Davitts needed extra time before getting the better of Kiltane, while Moy Davitts trailed Hollymount/Carramore for most of the game before coming good in the closing stages.

I expect this to be a very close game, one that could go either way. The nod goes to Moy Davitts, but only just.

The same can be said about the second semi-final between Crossmolina Deel Rovers and Ballinrobe (Saturday, October 5, 4.45 p.m. in Claremorris) in that it is very difficult to predict the winner.

Again, both teams were impressive in their victories last weekend, with Ballinrobe easily making home advantage play against Ardnaree, while Crossmolina’s win over The Neale in Cong was also eye-catching.

This should be a rip-roaring semi-final, with the final result in the balance right up to the final whistle. While I am going for Ballinrobe, it would not surprise me one bit to see Crossmolina coming out on top.

In the intermediate relegation final, Islandeady and Kiltimagh go head-to-head (Sunday, October 6, 3 p.m. in Cong). Again, this could go either way. However, the nod goes to Islandeady – but only just.

JUNIOR

It's east versus north Mayo in the two junior semi-finals, with Swinford meeting Cill Chomáin (Sunday, October 6, 2 p.m. in Crossmolina) and Eastern Gaels facing Bonniconlon (Sunday, October 6, 1 p.m. in Parke).

All four teams will go into the semi-finals confident of winning. However, I am going for Cill Chomáin and Eastern Gaels to book final spots.

Finally, the Treanlaur Catering Mayo Exclusive Junior B Championship final between Kilmovee Shamrocks and Achill will be played on Saturday (October 5) at 6.30 p.m. in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar.

It's another tough one to call, with little to glean from their respective semi-final wins over Moygownagh and Shrule/Glencorrib at the weekend, but the nod just goes to Shamrocks on this occasion.