Huge wins for Mary's & Fenagh as champions suffer first Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC loss in two years

An intriguing final round of this year’s Connacht Gold Leitrim Senior Football Championship saw champions Leitrim Gaels suffer their first championship loss in almost two years at the hands of St Mary’s Kiltoghert while last year’s finalists Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins missed out an automatic semi-final spot thanks to a stunning ten point Fenagh St Caillins victory.

With five clubs battling for three places in the knockout stages, Fenagh St Caillins, Allen Gaels and St Mary’s Kiltoghert were the big winners as they grabbed hugely important victories while Mohill underlined their status as favourites for the Fenagh Cup when they secured top spot in the table and consigned Glencar Manorhamilton to the relegation series thanks to a topsy turvy 2-22 to 0-23 victory.

Mohill got off to a blistering start in Philly McGuinness Park as they led Glencar Manorhamilton by 1-9 to 0-1 after less than ten minutes. A second goal just before halftime gave them a commanding 2-16 to 0-9 lead and seemingly on course for a cruise into the semi-finals. However, with Jack Kelly and Barry McNulty landing two pointers early in the second half, Manor cut that 13 point lead down to five midway through the second half.

But Mohill steadied the ship and although outscored by 0-14 to 0-6 in the second half, the home side had enough of a lead to secure their place in the semi-finals where they will be joined by Leitrim Gaels, who despite suffering a 1-14 to 0-14 loss at the hands of fellow parishioners St Mary’s Kiltoghert, still go into the semi-finals after Fenagh St Caillins produced a power-packed second half to shock Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins 1-22 to 1-12.

Fenagh got off to a strong start, leading 0-6 to 0-1 inside the first ten minutes, but Ballinamore fought their way back into the game with a two pointer from Paul Honeyman putting them in front after 22 minutes and after the same player added a goal three minutes later, the visitors led 1-9 to 0-10 at the break. The second half saw O’Heslins stretch the lead to three point but a Fenagh surge saw them take the lead when Callum Andrews hit a two point free.

A Fenagh goal midway through the second half put them six points clear and they never looked back as they surged to a ten point win, leaving them in a quarter-final clash next weekend with St Mary’s Kiltoghert.

Leitrim Gaels suffered their first Senior championship loss since 2024 when St Mary’s prevailed, Paul Keaney’s goal from a quickly taken free the difference in an exciting and hard fought game. The champions got off to the best start, Ryan Jones’ two pointer and a great save from Daire Shannon to deny Aidan Flynn a certain goal the early highs. A Ben Guckian two pointer tied the scores on nine minutes and two minutes later, a quick thinking Keaney smashed a 14 yard free to the Gaels net via the bottom of the crossbar.

The home side stretched their lead to five points but a huge Conall Jones two pointer sent the teams in at halftime with the home side leading 1-7 to 0-8. Two two pointers from Guckian and Keaney edged St Mary’s sisx in front after 36 minutes but as the Gaels started to get a grip around the middle of the park, their hard running brought them back into the game with points from Conall Jones, James Shanley and Jack Flynn, cutting the gap to two point.

Another huge two pointer from Keaney and a Cian Reynolds point on 58 minutes put the home side five clear before Stephen Goldrick landed a monster two point free. With both teams going for the win, Gavin Reynolds made two huge catches in his own goalmouth as St Mary’s secured the win over the champions.

Allen Gaels also booked their place in the quarter-finals, thanks to a hard fought 2-15 to 1-12 victory over Aughawillan. The Drumshanbo men led 2-4 to 0-2 at halftime but Aughawillan fought back to cut the gap to six points at the end.

That meant, with Fenagh, St Mary’s and Allen Gaels all level on four points, scoring difference came into it with Fenagh securing fourth place and a meeting with St Mary’s next weekend while Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins will take on Allen Gaels.

Details of venues and times for the quarter-finals will be released by the Leitrim CCC over the coming days.