MAYO SFC FINAL/Charlestown 0-9 Knockmore 0-6:AFTER THE third time of asking, the Paddy Moclair Cup will spend the year on show around John Healy's old stomping ground. The Sarsfields men entered this match with the considerable psychological pressure of having lost the last two county finals but they never looked back here.
It became queasy for the winners in the closing minutes, with the Knockmore men trailing by what transpired to be the final scoreline and chasing down a goal with abandon. Almost inevitably, they cooked up a chance in the bedlam, with Gerry Higgins' shot squirting through a pile of bodies and demanding all of John Casey's experience as he pushed it around his left-hand post.
Kevin O'Neill, another shimmering name from Mayo's yesteryear, floated in a hopeful 45 but when the Charlestown men secured possession, the game ended and the joy in McHale Park was unconfined.
It was a deserved win for Charlestown, who now have the distinction of being the first Mayo side to win a county championship under floodlights.
The fine new stand in the Castlebar ground was opened for the match and because of the late throw-in (3.30pm), the big lights were required 10 minutes into the second half. In addition to illuminating the play, the voltage seemed to send a charge through the participants also because after a low-key and untidy opening half, the final crackled to life through the last 20 minutes.
In the end, a series of tough, quality scores were enough to secure it for Charlestown, with old stager David "Ginger" Tiernan capping off a tremendous individual afternoon with a thunderous left- footed point on 49 minutes which sent his team on its way.
Two minutes later, Mark Caffrey snatched a point and with the midfield pairing of Tiernan and Tom Parsons making hay in that sector, Charlestown were in control of their own destiny.
The match was played in fairly wild conditions, with a strong wind and big drifts of heavy drizzle sweeping across the field, bleak conditions for Knockmore to bow out in after a scintillating championship display.
The frustrations of the day were possibly previewed in their first meaningful attack, when Higgins picked out the lurking O'Neill with a perfect pass only to see the full-forward's shot crack off the crossbar.
It ought to have been a goal for O'Neill, who rolled back the years with Knockmore this summer and came within a point of topping the scoring chart for the championship. They closed the half with a point from Andrew Keane when he had another one-on-one with Casey, this move the result of a clever break from Kevin McLoughlin, whose switch from corner back to half forward troubled the Charlestown men.
Trevor Howley had an exceptional first half, reading the game brilliantly and breaking deep into Charlestown country.
Knockmore started the second half brightly and produced the best point of the afternoon when Craig Reape took a smart pass from McLoughlin and confidently chipped a point to bring Knockmore level with 14 minutes remaining. That was the team's third point on the trot and with their crowd in full voice, the doubts from the previous two disappointments might have flashed across Charlestown minds.
The tackling was uninhibited by this stage, with a shoulder-to-shoulder encounter between both centre forwards flooring both men and it was no surprise when matters turned unruly with 10 minutes remaining. Tiernan and O'Neill were the guiltiest parties and although the veterans made a theatrical show of friendship afterwards, neither escaped yellow cards.
The jostling did little to affect Tiernan's concentration: a few minutes afterwards, he hammered his famous point.
O'Neill was moved out to the 40 and although his ball play and distribution was clever as ever, Knockmore missed the threat that he provided further inside.
In fading light and rank conditions, they suddenly found themselves in the unhappy position of having to chase the game.
Two minutes from time, Paul Mulligan added another point for Charlestown after a controlled and patient attack.
All afternoon, their defence had been safe as houses, with Colm Maye and Daragh McMeel in terrific form.
It was hard, therefore, to see Knockmore conjuring a goal but for the third time in the match, they gave the Charlestown contingent a serious scare. But they survived.
So 2009 can be added to 1901 and 2001 as the years when Sarsfields won the Mayo championship. The persistence of this particular vintage cannot be doubted and having added a Connacht title to their accomplishments when last liberated from Mayo, their ambitions should not end with October.
CHARLESTOWN: J Casey; E Casey, D McMeel, D Caffrey; D Higgins, A Higgins, D Maye; D Tiernan (0-1), T Parsons; R Haran (0-4, three frees), M Caffrey (0-1), P Mulligan (0-2); M Mulvaney, T Mulligan (0-1), O Conway. Subs: B O'Connell for M Mulvanney (47 mins), K Deignan for A Higgins (64 mins),
KNOCKMORE: N Canavan; C Reape (0-1), S McHale, J Brogan; T Howley, B Sweeney, K Langan; P Clarke, S Sweeney; K McLoughlin, G Higgins (0-1), A Keane (0-1); G Gaughan, K O'Neill (0-3 frees), B Gibbons. Subs: B Ruttledge for A Keane (47 mins), D Reape for S Sweeney (51 mins), A Stadler for C Reape (58 mins).
Referee: J Hughes (Kilmaine).
