Breaffy knocked out reigning champions Westport in the quarter-finals of the Mayo GAA Senior Football Championship on Sunday.
Breaffy, who have never won a Mayo senior title, won 1-8 to 0-9 against a Westport side who were strong favourites for the title.
"That was tense," Aidan O'Shea told Mayo GAA after the game.
"I think we played really well in the first half; second half, I think both teams struggled, to be honest. A lot of wides, a lot of misses. We had out backs to the walls, similar to our semi-final against them a couple of years ago, they missed a couple of chances and we had a few breakaways, kept possession high up the field.
🔥Aidan O'Shea fists his side two points clear.@BreaffyGAA 1-03 : 0-04 @westportgaa@MayoGAA | @Mayocredunion | #ConnachtGold
📎Stream Pass👇https://t.co/hvqclFUWCr pic.twitter.com/aJ4o1FJFoZ— StreamSport.ie (@StreamsportI) October 1, 2023
"Just delighted to get over the line. Nobody gave us a chance going into this game - nobody. That's huge for our group, a lot of growth in there today. We're just delighted to get into a semi-final and see what happens. Nobody expected us to get this far so we'll give it a rattle in two weeks."
"If I'm totally honest, Breaffy fully deserved their victory," said O'Shea's former Mayo teammate Lee Keegan.
"They came with a gameplan, stuck to it. We got lost in the second half with transition, kicked a lot of silly wides, had a couple of frees to level it. I think in the context of the game, our discipline probably cost us giving away some silly frees. Some of their big game players stepped up.
💫An amazing score from Lee Keegan to bring the sides level.@BreaffyGAA 1-03 : 0-06 @westportgaa@MayoGAA | @Mayocredunion | #ConnachtGold
📎Stream Pass👇https://t.co/hvqclFUWCr pic.twitter.com/rEtqdgCvYX— StreamSport.ie (@StreamsportI) October 1, 2023
"I can't say it was a great year [for us] because we lost a league final as well and we were beaten in a quarter-final. It's probably a good year in terms of a bit of progression. We have a lot to work on. We have a very good age profile in Westport, real talented lads.
"It's just now about getting back to brass tacks and getting some of the lads up to a bit better scratch. I think we even got caught in physicality stakes today. There's loads to work on but it's still a bit raw at the moment because we're defending champions and we would have loved to go on and get a crack at the Knockmores and the Castlebars and those teams again. We're licking our wounds tonight and rightly so."
In the Mayo SFC semi-finals, Breaffy will play Castlebar Mitchels and Ballina play Knockmore.
HIGHLIGHTS | @BreaffyGAA advance to Mayo SFC semi-finals following hard-fought two-point win over @westportgaa. @mayogaa | @mayocredunion | #ConnachtGold https://t.co/gIjg83eQmv
— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) October 1, 2023
