Ballina Stephenites 2-13 Westport 1-15
Ballina captain Evan Regan wrote his name into the history books in remarkable style as he landed the winning point five minutes into added time to settle this gripping replay of the Mayo senior football championship final.
Regan's late heroics — he scored 1-04 in the final 15 minutes to haul the Stephenites back from the brink — meant that Westport were denied a Moclair Cup success that had seemed inevitable when they led by 10 points after 50 minutes.
But Pat Holmes’ team lost their grip on the game in the closing stages with goals from the aforementioned Regan and Dylan Thornton kickstarting a Ballina comeback that ended with them lifting the trophy for the third year in succession.
It will take Westport some time to figure out exactly how they lost this game.
Pat Holmes’ team played some scintillating football for the first 50 minutes and they deservedly led by 1-14 to 0-07 as the match swung into the home straight.
They had taken the lead after only 14 seconds when Finbarr McLaughlin swooped to palm the ball past David Clarke to give the underdogs a sensational advantage.
The 2022 winners drove on from there with Conal Dawson and Eoghan McLaughlin leading the way and Joey Holmes tormenting the Ballina defence, shooting three fine points.
By half-time Westport were in total control, leading by 1-10 to 0-06, with a terrific two-pointer from Rory Brickenden on the stroke of half-time helping to underline their dominance.
Ballina, in contrast, looked out of sorts and ideas with only the Regan, the outstanding Sam Callinan and the battling Padraig O’Hora showing any sort of resistance.
They were only staying in the game thanks to scores from Regan (three, including a trademark two-pointer), Frank Irwin and O'Hora.
Westport seemed to be managing fine without their injured captain, Lee Keegan, who had been ruled out of the replay with a knee injury.
The third quarter continued along similar lines as Ballina struggled to get going and Westport controlled the pace and tempo of the game all over the field.
A string of frees from Killian Kilkelly kept them comfortably ahead while the Stephenites could only manage a single score down at the other end in the opening 20 minutes of the second half, a free from the irrepressible Regan.
The loss of O’Hora to injury seemed like the final straw at the time for them.
Eoghan McLaughlin almost limped out of the game on 48 minutes but it didn’t seem likely to affect the outcome when his brother, Finbarr, hit the target to push Westport 10 points up with the finish line in sight.
But everything changed when a quickly-taken free from Regan flew into the Westport net via a deflection in the 51st minute.
Five minutes later Dylan Thornton pounced for a second Ballina goal, fisting Regan’s delivery into the net to cut the gap to four points.
Now all bets were off.
Kilkelly did settle Westport’s nerves with a free soon after, but the momentum was now with Ballina and they continued to drive forward.
Irwin and Conor McStay kicked points to keep the comeback going as the match ticked into added time and it was at this stage that Regan really came into his own.
The former Mayo forward kicked a point from a free before Ballina engineered a move that saw them hold possession for almost two minutes before Regan drilled over a two-pointer to level the game for the first time in the 64th minute.
Extra-time looked to be on the cards but there was still time for Ballina to win possession from the Westport kick-out and get the ball through to their most prolific forward, who kicked the point that crowned an incredible comeback.
Ballina Stephenites: D Clarke; L Golden, L Jordan, C Boland; S Callinan, P O’Hora (0-01), D Tighe; M Murray (0-01), F Irwin (0-02); D Thornton (1-00), C McStay (0-01), N Feeney; E Regan (1-08, 1-0f, 2tp, 2f), J Irwin, L Doherty.
Subs used: C Treacy for Feeney (31); S Regan for O’Hora (42, inj); L Feeney for J Irwin (44); B Thornton for Boland (51).
Westport: P O’Malley (0-02, 1tpf); B Doyle, N McManamon, B McDermott; C Dawson, E McLaughlin, F McLaughlin (1-1); R Brickenden (0-02, 1tp), R Askin; L Tunney, M Moran (0-01), B O’Malley; L Silke, K Kilkelly (0-06, 6f), J Holmes (0-03).
Subs used: J Grady for Askin (HT); T Lambert for McLaughlin (48, inj); K Keane for Tunney (55); C Moran for M Moran (64).
Referee: K Connelly (Hollymount/Carramore)
