Clinical Castlebar in seventh heaven

Mayo SFL Division 1A – Round 7 

Castlebar Mitchels 2-13 

Knockmore 2-10 

At Pairc Josie Munnelly, Castlebar 

When even those attached to the beaten team are hailing the game as the best of the season to date, you know that the clash of first and second in the Division 1A table has lived up to expectations.

Castlebar Mitchels entered Friday night’s meeting with Knockmore boasting a perfect six from six record and made it seven from seven, but not without a stern examination from the visitors who made for very game opponents despite fielding barely a third of the side that featured in last year’s county senior football championship.

Indeed, it was Knockmore who held a one point advantage at half-time but the game was to swing on a blistering restart by Castlebar Mitchels for whom Ethan Gibbons was in superb scoring form throughout the contest. Where Knockmore had scored a pair of goals in the opening quarter of the game, the hosts hit back with two of their own in the first seven minutes of the second-half and never really looked back. The victory actually means Castlebar are already uncatchable at the top of the Division 1A table, five points clear of the pack with only two rounds left to play.

Ethan Gibbons needed only two minutes to get Castlebar Mitchels up and running on the scoreboard but his point was swallowed up in the fifth minute when a foul on Brian Durcan resulted in a Knockmore penalty, clinically dispatched by Aiden Orme to send the North Mayo side into an early lead. The downside for Knockmore was that they lost centre-forward Durcan who was unable to continue because of an injury sustained in the challenge.

The game was all-square by the eighth minute as Anthony O’Boyle and Stevie Keane fired over a point apiece before a free by Orme a minute later nudged the visitors back in front, and while that lead was exchanged once more as Ciaran Mylett and Ethan Gibbons struck Castlebar’s fourth and fifth points, the game had its second goal by the sixteenth minute. Again it went the way of Knockmore and bearing in mind Castlebar had only conceded one in their previous four outings, it was quite the achievement by the team managed by Aidan Kilcoyne and John Brogan to have rattled the net twice already. The scorer, full-forward, Caolan Hopkins, also posted a first-half free, and with Gibbons kicking a pair of frees at the other end before the break, it was Knockmore who held the slenderest of advantages, 2-2 to 0-7.

Whatever plan Knockmore might have discussed at half-time to contain their hosts and protect their albeit narrow lead flew out the window when Castlebar Mitchels hit them for a goal and two points inside 90 seconds of the restart. Stevie Keane raised his second white which preceded a major finished by Ciaran Mylett after which Ethan Gibbons landed his fifth point of the day – and third from a free.

Castlebar now led 1-9 to 2-2 and while Knockmore temporarily reduced their arrears to three points with what actually what was their first single from play, the Red and Yellow pushed their lead out to six in the 37th minute when Ethan Gibbons sent a rocket into the top corner of the net. Three minutes later that was extended to seven by Anthony O’Boyle.

Knockmore, despite that early onslaught by the home side, never threw in the towel and remained very game opponents until the finish. Aiden Orme belted over three second-half points and there was a brace by Pearse Ruttledge and one by Fergal Keane too, but they were to always remain held at arm’s length of the division’s standard bearers.

Mylett and Gibbons added a point each to their ever-growing tallies while there was a solitary point from the boot of Conor Stenson before full-time too.

After seven rounds, Barry Moran’s team has averaged 22 points exactly per game and boast an average winning margin of almost 11 points – putting Knockmore’s three points loss into a somewhat positive context.

Scorers – Castlebar: Ethan Gibbons 1-6 (0-3f), Ciaran Mylett 1-2, Anthony O’Boyle and Stevie Keane 0-2 each, Conor Stenson 0-1.

Knockmore: Aiden Orme 1-6 (1-0pen, 3f), Caolan Hopkins 1-1 (0-1f), Pearse Ruttledge 0-2, Fergal Keane 0-1.

Castlebar Mitchels: Rory Byrne; Mark Durcan, Joe Tuohy, Jack O’Reilly; Ruairi Burke, John McGonagle, James Cunningham; Conor Stenson, Anthony O’Boyle; Ciaran Mylett, Stevie Keane, Brendan Gaughan; Neil Douglas, James Durcan, Ethan Gibbons. Subs: Paddy Heneghan (for Douglas), Emmett Murphy (for M Durcan), Ben McHale (for Keane).

Knockmore: Ryan McDonnell; Sean Holmes, Adam Battle, Keith Coleman; David McHale, Pearse Ruttledge, Ronan Melvin; Darragh Staunton, Kieran King; Keith Ruttledge, Brian Durcan, Mikey Lowther; Aiden Orme, Caolan Hopkins, Fergal Keane. Subs: Declan Melvin (for Durcan, inj), Oran Timlin (for Lowther), Adam Naughton (for Melvin, inj), Martin Orme (for Battle).

REF: Liam Devenney (Ballina)