Division 1A
Castlebar 1-14
Charlestown1-11
Sean Rice
Castlebar
CHARLESTOWN are becoming anxious. Unaccustomed to life in the lower regions of the league table they came searching for a lifeline on Thursday.
But despite ten minutes of supremacy at Munnelly Park, no comfort was on offer from high-flying Castlebar Mitchels. And the former county champs are still stuck with a single point from their four outings.
Mind you, they exposed a disquieting flaw in the Mitchels’ make-up in those final ten minutes.
A week earlier the county finalists lost a nine-point lead to Ballaghaderreen. In this match they were dominant for much of the hour, but after falling victim to a fine goal they again lost their fluency, and having been nine points ahead struggled to hold on to three in the end.
They were, of course, without some regular defenders who would have known how to steady the ship after full-forward.
Tony Mulligan shocked them with the goal in the 50th minute. He soared high for the ball and left the defence flat-footed before knocking it into the net.
From that moment on Charlestown outscored Castlebar by 1-3 to a single point, as the adrenalin soared and the Mitchels tried to batten down the hatches in the fading light.
Although Mulligan was always a big threat it should not have come to that. Once Cian Costello breached their defence with a fine goal on twenty-five minutes, Castlebar spurted ahead, and how the goal came about explains why.
The final pass was from wing-back Sean Ryder who had traversed a lane up the left side from the beginning. Taking a return pass from Shane Hopkins, Ryder cut inside at speed and found Costello unmarked behind the defence.
Ryder was one of a half-back trio on which the Mitchels win was forged. Together with Tom Cunniffe and Fergal Durkan, they not only supplemented midfield, but also plotted clever scores with a variety of moves.
A stream of options was thus open to the forwards on which the likes of Cian Costello who accounted for a total of 1-3, and the blistering fast Tom King, who reeled in five points, did not turn their backs.
But the fact that only two points (0-6/0-4) separated them by the 24th minute was an indication of Charlestown’s determination to squeeze something from the game.
Richie Haran and Sean Morris gave them a push at midfield, even if the spadework of Paul Fitzmaurice and Danny Kirby did not go unnoticed.
Only for the alertness of Ciaran Naughton in the Castlebar goal, Mulligan would have neutralised Costello’s strike, but at the other end King and Neil Douglas were similarly unlucky.
That trend continued after the break — at which Castlebar led by 1-8 to 0-5. Embryonic attacks by Charlestown were foiled when half-forwards Eamon Kennedy, the tireless Shane Hopkins, and Aidan Walsh began to tackle back, and cut off most of the options.
But that tactic also afforded Damien Warde and Dermot Higgins more room to open new avenues from defence. Haran won more possession at midfield, and the first sign of Charlestown’s recovery was evident in Colm Maye’s point in the 48th minute when released by Mulligan and which should have been a goal.
It was the chink of light that gave them new momentum. The Mitchels lost their grip, Mulligan struck, Maye and Haran scored vital points from frees, and it took Tom Cunniffe to settle Castlebar’s nerves with their only score in the final thirteen minutes.
Castlebar
C Naughton; R Burke, A Feeney, E Reilly; F Durkan, T Cunniffe (0-1), S Ryder; P Fitzmaurice, D Kirby; E Kennedy, S Hopkins, A Walsh (0-3, 2fs, 45’); C Costello (1-3), N Douglas (0-2), T King (0-5).
Subs used: N McCarney for Durkan; K Filan for Douglas; E Feeney for Kennedy.
Charlestown
D Sloyan; E Casey, D McMeel, K Deignan; D Warde, P Walsh (0-1), D Higgins; S Morris, R Haran (0-4, 4fs); C Maye (0-5, 4fs), M Mulvaney, M Divilly (0-1); A Higgins, A Mulligan (1-0), O Conway.
Subs used: M Caffrey for Conway; O Gallagher for Mulvaney; C Finn for Casey; J Owens for Divilly.
Referee: J Hughes (Kilmaine)
