Final
Castlebar Mitchels 4-10
Breaffy 0-9
Seán Rice
Castlebar
UNFAIRLY, we placed too much responsibility on Aidan O’Shea to make it a final to remember – and perhaps gave too little credit to the ability of Castlebar to plan the eclipse of the Breaffy star.
The 13 points they had to spare were a glowing triumph not only for the manner in which the Mitchels were prepared, but also for the intensity with which they set about capturing their 29th county senior title on Sunday.
Even before Danny Kirby tucked the ball into the Breaffy net in the 21st minute, the omen of a heavy defeat hung fatally over the proceedings.
Castlebar controlled the game from the beginning, defending grittily against the wind, in charge in the positions we had expected they might struggle, and by half-time, far enough ahead to be safe.
In a one-sided game you could only stand back and admire their guile and craft, the organisation of their game and the cohesion of their movements.
Breaffy may have contributed to their woes by failing to slot Aidan O’Shea in at full forward, the position in which he wreaks most damage … especially when they had the advantage of the wind in the first half.
Perhaps because everyone (including the Mitchels) expected the big man to lead the attack from the beginning, Breaffy gambled on him at midfield.
But the Mayo star was crowded out in the centre ... and missed in the full-forward line. And for the most part Castlebar adroitly played the wings, succeeding in keeping the ball as much as possible away from midfield.
Nerves were a bit frayed too. Breaffy’s failure to clear their lines for Castlebar’s first goal could only have been due to an attack of the jitters. Ray O’Malley, Donal Newcombe and Shane Hopkins had set it up, and Danny Kirby, cool as a breeze, made sense of the ball’s chaotic bounce in front of the goal by stabbing it into the net.
You could have seen it coming. With Eoghan O’Reilly attacking doggishly from centre back, Barry Moran and Aidan Walsh ruffling feathers at midfield, Tom Cunniffe neutralising the danger Tommy O’Reilly posed at corner forward, and Donie Newcombe, Alan Feeney, Paddy Durcan and Ray O’Malley fiercely challenging every ball, nothing soft was left to Breaffy.
They had held the rampaging Mitchels to three points apiece up to Kirby’s goal, all their scores coming from frees (by O’Reilly, Conor O’Shea and Robbie Hennelly). They would add two further points before the break from Gary Walsh and Seamus O’Shea.
But by then Neil Douglas had grabbed his first goal. Richie Feeney, having his best game all season, roaming from full-forward with verve and purpose brilliantly placed him.
And Kirby, padding out his goal with two points, a brace by Aidan Walsh, and another by Douglas left a yawning gap of 2-6 to 0-5 at the interval ... and Breaffy facing into the wind after the break.
Their best efforts came immediately after the break. Aidan and Seamus O’Shea had begun to stitch together a series of incisive moves. The gloom might have changed if Tommy O’Reilly had got the goal his effort deserved in those minutes or if Alan Feeney had not got between Matthew Ruane’s fierce shot and the goal, or if goalkeeper Rory Byrne had not denied them with a piece of excellence.
But the resistance of the Mitchels was impressive. And the departure of Barry Moran after a black card in the 35th minute that was not warranted left them no less vibrant. Ger McDonagh, mostly tasked with marking Aidan O’Shea, did so competently. Kirby was sharp and unstinting in his deliveries.
Douglas ended Breaffy’s challenge with his second goal in the 42nd minute, brilliantly placed by Richie Feeney and the tireless Niall Lydon. The winger crowned his effort with his hat-trick five minutes from the end; sub James Durcan the provider on this occasion.
Breaffy battled creditably to the end. Conor O’Shea had three of their four second-half points and Peter Dravins the other. Colm Jordan, Micheál Jennings, the three O’Sheas and Tommy O’Reilly were game as ever, but did not have the resources elsewhere to match Castlebar ... or a bench of their quality.
CASTLEBAR MITCHELS
R Byrne; T Cunniffe, A Feeney, D Newcombe; P Durcan, E O’Reilly (0-1), R O’Malley, G McDonagh; A Walsh (0-3, 3f), B Moran; S Hopkins, N Lydon, N Douglas (3-1, 0-1f); D Kirby (1-3), R Feeney (0-1).
Subs used: J Durcan (0-1) for Moran (black card); C Costello for Hopkins; S Conlon for Newcombe; R Burke for O’Malley; F Durkan for Lydon; M Towey for R Feeney.
BREAFFY
R Hennelly (0-1, 1f); C Jordan, M Jennings, M Hall; R Martyn, C Kelly, D Gavin; A O’Shea, S O’Shea (0-1); G Walsh (0-1), R Fadden, K Mulchrone; T O’Reilly (0-1, 1f), C O’Shea (0-4, 2f), G Dunne.
Subs used: M Ruane for Dunne; L Irwin for Walsh; G Jennings for Mulchrone; D Cannon for Kelly; P Dravins (0-1) for Fadden; D Morrin for Martyn.
Referee: L Devenney (Ballina)
