Castlebar Mitchels easily shake off Charlestown to earn first league win

MAYO LGFA LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

Castlebar Mitchels 2-9

Charlestown Sarsfields 0-6

In Josie Munnelly Park

After falling to last year's county finalists Knockmore in round one, Castlebar Mitchels bagged their first win of the league campaign in a one-sided affair on home soil.

Mitchels, led by the excellent Lucy Molloy, Gráinne Flynn, Helen Murrihy and Kathryn Sullivan cruised to victory. Even though the scoreline was close enough at half-time, with Castlebar leading 0-5 to 0-1, the general feeling was that they were in total control.

Charlestown, who fell to Kilmovee Shamrocks in round one, were short on numbers and the game had to be played 13-a-side. The Sarsfields were struggling to even get shots off in the first half.

Only four attempted shots towards the sticks in the first half tell a story on its own. Each time Charlestown successfully got the ball forward, Mitchels defenders, especially Tanya Flynn and Sinéad O'Boyle got a hand in and turned the ball over.

At half-time Castlebar subbed in Grace Bailey and she had an instant impact. Bailey got the ball off the throw-in and surged forward, ripping through the Charlestown women, before passing to Helen Murrihy, who shimmied across a defender to hammer the ball into the net. A clean, powerful and low strike, the keeper had no chance from close range. Castlebar had blitzed their opponents to take a 1-5 to 0-1 lead.

It's not that Charlestown stopped trying. Chelsea Doherty put in a good shift, and Leasha McHale scored 0-2, as well as Nicole McLoughlin. Midfielder Katie Gavin was their most dangerous runner with ball in hand, but she didn't have the support cast to fully capitalise on her scything bursts forward.

Four out of Charlestown's scores came during the last ten minutes, when the result had been decided. At that stage, Castlebar's rhythm was disrupted due to two yellow cards. The first one for Grace Bailey and a second one for defender Sinéad O'Boyle, but the home side were never in danger of being overhauled.

The second goal for Mitchels came in the 56th minute. Emma Keane's shot dipped into the net underneath goalkeeper Nora McGovern. Was her strike destined for a point or was it a stroke of genius? In the end, it doesn't matter. The final scoreline reflects the dominance that Mitchels displayed on the day. Charlestown simply lacked the killer instinct and fire power to threaten Castlebar's spirited defensive work.

A full match report will be carried in Tuesday's Mayo News.