No separating Knockmore and Mitchels

Mayo Senior Club Championship

Round 1
Knockmore 0-9
Castlebar Mitchels 0-9

NOBODY expected there to be much between these two senior championship heavyweights and in the end they couldn’t be separated at St Joseph’s Park on Saturday evening.
This first round match may not have been a classic, but it was as tight, tactical and tense as any of the games that we will see in the coming weeks.
In the end, a point from Knockmore substitute Liam Durkan in the 56th minute turned out to the equalising score, although both sides missed chances to snatch a winner in the remaining nine minutes.
The homeside had led by 0-5 to 0-2 after a lacklustre first half with four points without reply from Aidan Orme (2, one free) and Darren McHale (2) putting Knockmore in the driving seat.
Mitchels had failed to score for the final 20 minutes of that opening half, but they were utterly transformed in the third quarter.
With Paddy Durcan driving them forward from centre-back, and his twin brother, James, making a huge impact off the bench on his return after 12 months out, Castlebar took control.
They shot seven points in 15 minutes to surge ahead by 0-9 to 0-7 after 45 minutes with the Durcans, Anthony O’Boyle, Ethan Gibbons (2 frees), Rory Byrne (free) and Donie Newcombe all on target.
At that stage the visitors looked the likely winners.
But they failed to score for the last 20 minutes and Knockmore clipped points from Darren McHale and Liam Durkan to level the game for the fifth time and final time.
That was how it stayed until the end, so everyone left feeling relatively happy.

You can read a full match report and reaction in Tuesday's print edition of The Mayo News.