Davitts bow out as classy Caherlistrane progress in Connacht championship
The Mayo champions struggled in large spells as Caherlistrane were deserving winners after an hour of entertaining football
Connacht Intermediate Championship Quarter-Final
Caherlistrane 2-18
Davitts 1-11
In Castlebar
On a cool afternoon in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Galway champions Caherlistrane produced an excellent performance as they overcame Mayo kingpins Davitts in front of a big crowd in the home of Mayo GAA.
The South Mayo men were dealt a blow when their regular goalkeeper Dylan O’Brien was unavailable. The former Mayo underage shotstopper was away in America taking part in an American Football kicking competition along with Castlebar’s Peter Basquille. As a result of O’Brien’s absence, Davitts veteran and current selector Ronan McNamara was in goal for the day.
Across the hour, the North Galway side who were competing in the senior grade in 2024 were excellent while the men in white and blue had ten different scorers. Davitts struggled throughout the hour despite the fact that Mark Concannon’s side enjoyed a real purple patch late in the first half while kicking 1-5 without reply.
In the opening half, Davitts captain Niall Treacy and Jack Melvin were the only two men to get on the scoresheet while Caherlistrane had seven different scorers in the opening half hour as they played with real urgency.
Goals from Ciaran Donnellan and Alan Morris had the Galway side leading 2-8 to 0-2 with 20 minutes on the clock. However, Davitts hit back with 1-5 without reply with the goal coming from Jack Melvin’s penalty kick while Caherlistrane full-back Shane Bohan was issued with a black card late in the half.
Going in at the break after a thrilling half of football, Caherlistrane led 2-8 to Davitts’ 1-7.
The Mayo champions failed to make the most of the numerical advantage as it was their opponents who started the fresh half best, kicking the opening three scores.
Veteran Colm Boyle entered the game early in the second half but as time went on Caherlistrane looked composed. The margin was down to four points and when Davitts needed to find extra, Caherlistrane denied them with Galway senior player Johnny McGrath and his brother Richard to the fore. When goalkeeper Kieran McDonagh booted over a two point free with ten to go, the Galway men were on their way to victory.
As time ticked by, Davitts struggled and in the end, Caherlistrane were the deserving winners as Davitts bow out of the Connacht series.
A full match report will be carried in Tuesday’s edition of The Mayo News.