Castlebar do just a little ‘More to stay in title race
Barry Walsh and his Castlebar teammates bounced back from the concession of an early try to get the better of visiting Dunmore on Saturday night.
Connacht J1A League – Round 6
Castlebar 20
Dunmore 14
Patrick Hennelly in Cloondeash
A gutsy Castlebar recorded a crucial and hard-fought victory at a bitterly cold Cloondeash on Saturday night.
The supporters who braved the wintry weather at the venue didn’t have to wait too long for some drama, as Dunmore pounced for the opening try during the embryonic stages. The locals were caught napping and when Andrew Doherty collected possession, he made a darting run for the end line and gleefully crossed the whitewash. Conor Burns impeccably guided over the subsequent conversion and the North Galway visitors were up and running.
If Castlebar were rattled then they didn’t show it, and parity was restored after five minutes. The versatile Luke Staunton was on the end of a fine attacking foray and he used all of his experience and guile to snatch the all-important five pointer. Staunton’s teammate, Luke Walmsley, struck over the conversion, much to the delight of the home faithful.
Dunmore had the tail end of Storm Darragh at their backs during the first-half, but the visitors failed to fully utilise the elements.
Castlebar dug deep and withstood some stern pressure from their opponents and at the interval the sides were deadlocked at seven points apiece.
Similar to the opening half, the Black and Yellow made a whirlwind start to the new period and the visitors regained the lead on 45 minutes. After what was some intricate build-up play, possession was snaffled up by the lurking Austin Brummer and he made a bamboozling and uninterrupted run past a static home rearguard to claim a superb touchdown. Burns duly slotted over his second conversion of the night, much to the delight of the loyal band of away supporters who made the trip to West Mayo.
Castlebar rejigged their game plan and introduced both Bryan O’Flaherty and Patrick Flannelly into the fray, which added some new impetus to their style of play.
Dunmore conceded a costly penalty on 53 minutes, and when Walmsley guided over the subsequent place kick, there were now just four points separating the sides, 14-10.
A heavy mist descended at the venue during the second-half and this made conditions greasy, with both sides wary of making any handling errors.
Dunmore defended their lead with great courage and endeavour, however, one of the moves of the game resulted in the hosts nudging in front on 56 minutes. Both Bryan O’Flaherty and Staunton combined to set-up Donnacha Flynn and the latter smuggled the ball past the try line, with Walmsley adding the subsequent conversion, to garner a 17-14 lead for Mayo men.
A doughty Dunmore refused to throw in the towel and the North Galway outfit had Castlebar penned in their own half for large chunks of the final 20 minutes.
It appeared that Dunmore’s pressure play was only moments away from paying dividends, however, Castlebar were awarded a crucial penalty on 70 minutes. Walmsley continued his unnerving accuracy from the placed ball and suddenly the hosts had a six point cushion.
Dunmore needed a converted try to snatch the victory and this was certainly not beyond the realms of possibility for the heretofore heroic visitors. The Black and Yellow poured forward during a tense and frantic finale, however, when the visitors last attacking foray broke down, Castlebar cleared the danger, and the full-time whistle brought the curtain down on what was a gripping encounter.
This was Castlebar’s fourth league victory of the season and the Cloondeash outfit are currently fifth in the league standings on 17 points – just three points behind table toppers Creggs. However, Creggs do have a game in hand, which should be a cracking encounter against third placed Connemara.
Castlebar: Liam Hegarty, Sean Tonra, Ronan Ipek, Sean Connolly, Aaron Wootton, Richard Sweeney, Donnacha Flynn, Rory Murphy, Zack Wright, Luke Walmsley, Connor O’Neill, Luke Staunton, Barry Walsh, Damien Togher, Stephen Rogan. Replacements: Jack Ormsby, Bryan O’Flaherty, Patrick Flannelly, Adam Canny.
Dunmore: Ronan Mullin, Jamie Geraghty, Andrew Glynn, Martin Cummins, Brendan Walsh, Austin Brummer, Andrew Doherty, Dean Slattery, Colin Lyons, Brendan Carr, Dylan Brady, Conor Burns, Bradley Hughes, Eoin Reddington, Jamie Coen. Replacements: Tomas Cronin, John Huane, Oisin Murphy, Sam Glynn.
REF: Michael Honan
