Connacht Gold Mayo SFC Final

CASTLEBAR MITCHELS 1-17 (1-3-11) GARRYMORE 0-12 (0-4-4)

By Kevin Egan at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park

Castlebar Mitchels may have been playing in their first county final in nine years, but they looked like they were completely in their comfort zone for the majority of this afternoon’s decider against Garrymore, strangling the life out of the rural South Mayo side and their hopes for a romantic championship victory.

Sheer relentless energy and frantic desire from the underdogs meant that the Moclair Cup wasn’t certain to go to Castlebar Mitchels until Cian Walsh rolled in the game’s only goal from a penalty after 59 minutes, but they always had something to spare against a Garrymore side that was heavily dependent on long-range shooting.

Four shots were sent over Rory Byrne’s crossbar from outside the arc, but nearly twice that amount failed to find the target, while Castlebar were far more controlled and in their attacking play, even though none of their attackers scored more than once from open play.

Man of the Match Bob Tuohy compensated for this with a masterclass, firing 0-6 from play – one of his points could just as easily have been a goal – while he also played a huge role in Mitchels enjoying a steady flow of possession throughout.

A couple of early misses, most notably Trevor Nally’s shot on goal that was parried by Byrne, was not something that Garrymore could afford, as Mitchels were finding their stride perfectly.

Tuohy landed a sensational two-pointer into the diagonal breeze to set the tone, Joe Forry’s dummy and jink opened up a simple finish for Cian Walsh, and by the midway point of the first half, Tuohy and Forry landed quickfire points to make it 0-7 to no score.

Castlebar looked sharp and confident, stripping possession from a nervous Garrymore side on a couple of occasions. Paddy Durcan winning most of his contests for possession against Garrymore talisman Enda Hession was a microcosm of the contest as a whole, with Garrymore searching for hope while making no impression close to the Castlebar goal.

Two two-pointers, one each from Aaron Hughes and Trevor Nally, reduced the gap to a more manageable 0-9 to 0-4 at half-time and the sheer, frantic desire that Garrymore showed in their own back division for the majority of the second half kept the game alive. Paddy Durcan landed one from outside the arc but in all, just three scores were struck by Castlebar in nearly 25 minutes, even though Tuohy continued to lord matters at midfield.

That scoring drought allowed Garrymore to chip away at the lead, despite never getting on top themselves in the upper half of field. Eoin McGreal struck their third double from out on the right wing, Joe Forry replied in kind for the town side with an incredible strike, but a quick dink of a 45 into Darren Quinn set up the corner forward for another strike from outside the arc to make it 0-16 to 0-12 with a couple of minutes remaining.

What little hope there was for an incredible comeback lasted barely 60 seconds. John MacMonagle took a captain’s responsibility and drove right through the heart of the Garrymore defence, forcing a desperation tackle from Justin Commins that led to a black card penalty decision. Cian Walsh’s clinical low penalty duly wrapped up a first county title in nine years, and set Castlebar up to extend their season deep into the winter, with just London champions Fulham Irish standing between them and a Connacht Final.

SCORERS FOR CASTLEBAR MITCHELS: Bob Tuohy 0-6 (1tp), Cian Walsh 1-1 (1-0 pen), Joe Forry 0-4 (0-1f, 1tp), Paddy Durcan 0-2 (tp), Anthony O’Boyle 0-1, Seán Morahan 0-1, Ultan O’Reilly 0-1, Eoghan Hughes 0-1.

SCORERS FOR GARRYMORE: Darren Quinn 0-4 (1tp), Trevor Nally 0-3 (1tp), Eoin McGreal 0-3 (1tp), Aaron Hughes (1tp).

CASTLEBAR MITCHELS: Rory Byrne; Shane Cunningham, Seán Morahan, Donnacha McHugh; Joe Tuohy, John MacMonagle, Paddy Durcan; Bob Tuohy, Ultan O’Reilly; Anthony O’Boyle, James Durcan, Conor Mulroy; Joe Forry, Neil Douglas, Cian Walsh. Subs: Eoghan Hughes for Douglas (45), Calum Filan for J Durcan (49), Ben Joyce for O’Reilly (55), Ethan Gibbons for Forry (57), Conor Stenson for Mulroy (60+1)

GARRYMORE: Brian Lynskey; Colin Commins, Jamie Oates, Justin Commins; Eoin McGreal, Liam Óg Horkan, David Dolan; Gary Golden, Aaron Hughes; Enda Hession, Andy Glennon, Shane Nally; Darren Quinn, Cathal Slattery, Trevor Nally. Subs: Jamie Hession for Dolan (25), Caolan Crowe for S Nally (28), Patrick Hession for Crowe (33-38, blood), Patrick Hession for T Nally (45), Michael Connolly for Glennon (60+3).

REFEREE: Liam Devenney (Ballina Stephenites)