COLUMN: Castlebar Mitchels skip the romance to become Mayo kings

Who doesn’t love a bit of romance? Mayo swept the whole country off its feet earlier this summer, and Garrymore in their first county final since 1982 would have been the perfect way to see out the year for us hopeless romantics.

The candles were lit. Etta James and Elvis Presley were lined up on the wireless for the small club from the south of the county to take home the Moclair Cup.

Castlebar Mitchels showed they don’t do romance. They walked into MacHale Park, turned off the music and blew out the candles before Garrymore got their coat off. There was nothing loving about it. Ruthless is the word. Beautifully ruthless, if that’s your jazz.

The first half was a tactical masterclass from Kevin Filan’s side and they did everything required to beat Garrymore. They pressed the kick-out aggressively, the inverted 4-4-2, and never allowed Bryan Lynskey a short option. They were hungrier on the breaks and that was the launchpad for the win.

When the quick ball was on they moved it quick, but more often than not they were patient, working it between the ‘45 and the halfway line, in and out, sucking the Garrymore defenders out of their shape or drawing them into a foul. They picked their scores and, as they always do, did their damage from in and around the arc.

​PERFECT MATCHES

We all love match-up talk and Mitchels got exactly what they wanted. Donnacha McHugh kept Darren Quinn scoreless until the final quarter and will be delighted with his afternoon. James Durcan on Enda Hession was a great call and limited his influence, while Seán Morahan and Eoin McGreal had a fine battle.

Bob Tuohy lorded the middle of the field and hit two two-pointers in a statement performance. Ultan O’Reilly got through a power of work beside him, John MacMonagle anchored the defence and young Mulroy at wing-back was superb. Joe Forry was quieter than his semi-final heroics but his point off the sideline on 49 minutes was as good a score as you will see in a county final.

On Durcan. I met a member of the Mitchels backroom team in Castlebar on Thursday who was quick to offer up the news that Durcan was out and wouldn’t play. He also informed me he had read my column last week, but must have missed the part where I said Durcan was expected to play some part despite his ankle injury. Injury or not, he was outstanding in the first half. Thankfully I have a couple of contacts in Mitchels who are more forthcoming with the truth!

Garrymore had a handful of chances in that first half, and a small handful at that. Yet two late two-pointers left them only five down at the break despite playing second fiddle. Such is the modern game. Momentum swings on a couple of kicks and that was an encouraging position to bring into the dressing room having been poor.

​MITCHELS MINDSET

Fair to say the second half was a different game. Garrymore came out with more energy and the exchanges were closer to 50/50 at times. The problem was they had no answer to the Mitchels rearguard. Rory Byrne was excellent, stretching above the crossbar to pull down a Quinn effort late on when Garrymore threatened to pull it back, a score which would have carried huge significance at the time. Mitchels had done enough and kept Garrymore at arm’s length the whole way home.

It’s worth noting none of the Mitchels players went on the Mayo trip to the USA recently, which surprised me. Davitts’ Fenton Kelly and Colm Boyle went, played a final the same weekend and were excellent, so you’d forgive any man for going. I’d have gone myself. But the decision tells you how seriously Castlebar took this, and you’d wonder did it hand them a psychological edge.

Filan and his management deserve huge credit. Garrymore beat them in the group stages and they never looked back after. A county title was never a surprise with the talent in this squad, but it hadn’t worked out for them in recent years and last season was a disappointment. To bounce back and win this says a lot. With their age profile, their panel depth and the underage talent coming through, they are only going to get stronger.

Garrymore will be sore. They sat back and invited Mitchels on in the first half when they needed to press out and put physicality on the Castlebar defence. The intensity and sharpness they showed all year never arrived. Given their age profile and the season they’ve had, this one will take a while to shake off. Mitchels got the tactical battle right and everything followed in sync

DAVITTS TAKE THEIR CHANCE

County finals are there to be won and that’s all that matters. Doing it with one of your performances of the year is a bonus and Davitts did every bit of that at the weekend.

They looked so at home on MacHale Park, almost like it was their own pitch in Ballindine, such was their confidence in attack. The Treacys put on an exhibition and three brothers scoring in a county final is an amazing moment for any family and any team, and their mother, Olive, was on physio duty on the sideline to see it.

Shane and Niall were particularly good. Two lads with lovely shot execution, and every time they looked at the posts you felt the ball was going over.

That kind of form infects a team with belief and Davitts had it all day. Jack Melvin and Fenton Kelly played their part, and it would be remiss not to mention Colm Boyle coming off the bench, scoring a point and barrelling into breaking ball like it was 2017 again. If this was his last day out, he has left on a high.

Six sets of brothers on the Davitts panel tells you what kind of club it is. Those bonds are tight when the battle is on and they are worth a few percentages on a day like Sunday.

Ballinrobe will be desperately disappointed. They came in off their performance of the year against Moy Davitts, the reigning favourites, in the semi-final and fell flat when it mattered most. Where the big Davitts players stood up, the same couldn’t be said for Ballinrobe outside of the opening ten minutes and a late burst of four points in a row. For long stretches they played second fiddle.

They seemed to lack a leader on the field, which surprises me given five of the starting 15 are or have been involved with the Mayo senior setup. A team like that should be built for the big day, but that’s not how it works. As with what is consistent in the modern game, so much of the game’s momentum swung on primary possession and breaking ball

A lot of breaking ball is luck, but a lot more of it is hunger, and Davitts had the Lion’s share. Around the 47th minute Ballinrobe flirted with getting back into it when they pulled it back to four points. But Melvin stepped up at the other end and nailed a two-pointer to push the gap to six and settle the game. Finals are tricky, particularly on the back of a big win over the hot favourites.

Add in a young team which has been knocking on the intermediate door for a number of years and all of it feeds into the psyche. The harder you knock and the more near misses you collect, the further away the door seems to get. Ballinrobe will be back and they’ll rebuild, but Sunday will sting.

It’s a huge win for Mark Concannon, a Ballinrobe man managing Davitts, who will have mixed feelings on the day. He has done a fine job. Davitts have been on the up for two or three years without getting close. At their first real opportunity they took it with both hands. At intermediate level, that is exactly what you have to do.