The county’s hurlers this afternoon came out on top in an entertaining NHL Division 3 Round 6 match against Wicklow at Aughrim where they prevailed by 4-15 to 2-15. The win means they’ll now contest the divisional final, while it also means they’re promoted to Division 2 for next year.

Today’s match at Aughrim was competitive enough, albeit we didn’t look in bother at any stage. We scored the game’s four opening points and, when Joe Burke goaled for us on 22 minutes, that put us seven ahead.

The Garden County shaved just one point off that deficit by half-time, as we took a 1-9 to 0-6 lead into the break.

The teams exchanged goals early in the second half – the visitors’ one came courtesy of Liam Lavin, with Padraig Doyle netting for the home team – and, when Wicklow broke through for their second goal, scored by Luke Evans with ten minutes to go, that left just a single point separating the teams.

Our lads hit back almost immediately to bag our third goal of the afternoon, this one scored by Cormac Phillips. That gave us a bit of a cushion as the contest headed towards its closing stages. A fourth Mayo goal, scored by Seán Kenny, extended the visitors’ lead to six points and that was the gap between the sides at the finish.

The win sees Mayo finish second in the Division 3 table on ten points. Their only loss came in Round 3 when they went under by two points to the Exiles at the Connacht Centre of Excellence. As noted at the top, next weekend they’ll get the chance to put that one to rights when the teams face off again in the Division 3 decider.