Castlebar Mitchels retain Mayo U-21 A title after seven-goal west Mayo derby 

Mayo U-21 A Championship final 

Castlebar Mitchels 4-7 Westport 3-4

In Castlebar 

CASTLEBAR Mitchels remain county U-21 champions after an erratic but entertaining encounter with Westport this afternoon. 

A lack of scoring consistency hampered the Clew Bay boys, who had no answer to the Castlebar Mitchels center-forward Mark Cunningham, who led the county town side from start to finish. 

Battling a swirling breeze and low winter sunlight, Mitchels had plenty of wides and missed goal chances. However, three goals in the first half and one in the second were enough to see the locals retain their county title.

Cunningham made his own assist for the opening goal when Gavin Forry teed him up to palm the ball home in the fourth minute. 

^{Castlebar Mitchels forward Cian Walsh gets tackled by Westport’s Tom Lambert during the 2024 Mayo U21 A Championship Final
Pic Conor McKeown}

Westport responded two minutes later when Joey Holmes fed Fionn O’Hora to smash the ball in the roof of the net.

The Clew Bays side added three more points before the break as Mitchels scored two more goals. Mark Cunningham set up Callum Filan for the second goal and was involved in the third when he cleverly let Gavin Forry’s pass go through his legs to set up Cian Walsh for his goal in injury time. 

Westport began the second half with a bang, hitting the net twice in three minutes from Cian Mulchrone and Daragh Hoban. 

However, the boys in blue - who saw a penalty saved by Peter Basquille - failed to score for another 21 minutes. 

A sturdy and efficient Mitchels side slowly ground their way back in front and finally sealed the deal through a Gavin Forry goal on the stroke of full-time.

The final whistle marked the last-ever game of Gaelic football ever to be played in MacHale Park before the introduction of the new rules, which will come into effect from U-14 to adult level in the new year. 

A full report plus reaction from Mark Cunningham, Shane Cunningham and John MacMonagle will be carried in the next print edition of Mayo News.