Joe Brolly’s first competitive game as head coach of Knockmore yielded a 1-15 to 0-13 victory over Ballina Stephenites last weekend.

The 1993 Derry All-Ireland SFC winner and former Sunday Game analyst was on the sideline as Knockmore gained a measure of revenge for last year’s Mayo SFC final to Ballina in the North Mayo Sweeney Cup semi-final. They will now meet Belmullet in the final at Crossmolina on Saturday at 5pm.

It was announced in January that Brolly was joining returning Knockmore manager Ray Dempsey’s backroom team for the 2025 season. Despite living beside the Knockmore GAA grounds and helping to coach the club’s ladies teams, Brolly’s move into club management still came as something of a surprise.

Dempsey is embarking on his second term as Knockmore manager, having retaken the reins from Aidan Kilcoyne and John Brogan, who stepped down as joint-managers after losing last year’s county final defeat. The former Mayo star guided his home club to back-to-back Moclair Cups during his previous tenure in 2020 and ’21.

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