Derby delight for Mitchels who maintain unbeaten run
James Durcan scored three points in Castlebar Mitchels win against local rivals Breaffy in Mayo SFL Division 1A on Saturday.
A third-quarter burst by Castlebar Mitchels was ultimately the difference as the Division 1 champions maintained their 100% record by defeating local rivals Breaffy last Saturday evening.
They outscored their opponents 0-6 to 0-3 in that period, scoring more between the 33rd and 39th minute than they did in the entire first-half. The hosts struggled to break through the Breaffy defensive structure for much of that first-half but whatever words said by Barry Moran and Neil Lydon during the break certainly did the trick.
Both sides were missing a host of players and the respective benches were very limited in numbers due to injuries and the unavailability of county players, but it was still the battle-hardened, men like the Mitchels trio of Neil Douglas, James Durcan and Anthony O’Boyle and Breaffy’s Tommy O’Reilly and Conor O’Shea, who came to the fore while young stars like Breaffy’s Davitt Neary and Niall Carter, and Mitchels’ James Cunningham also impressed.
The respective wing-forwards, Davitt Neary and Anthony O’Boyle, a free, exchanged the opening scores before Breaffy full-back Mark Dervan was shown a black card for a needless pull down on James Cunningham.
James Durcan, a free, Jack O’Reilly and Ben McHale all struck for Mitchels who had moved 0-4 to 0-1 in front by the end of the first quarter but chances were few and far between from here, with Breaffy negating the blunt Mitchels attack for much of Dervan’s absence off the pitch.
Tommy O’Reilly’s point and a Pierce Deane free brought the gap back to the minimum with ten minutes remaining of the half.
Like many battles before between the two, neither side were giving an inch and the aggression went up a few notches on 26 minutes where tempers flared on both sides, with Steve Keane giving a new meaning to taking a shirt off any man’s back in an exchange with Breaffy midfielder Niall Carter. The Blue and White were buoyed from it and Joe Mellett hit a monster score to level the match at 0-4 apiece at half-time.
It remained level with five minutes played in the second-half, a superb score off the outside of the boot by Neil Douglas pegged back by an equally impressive Tommy O’Reilly point after a quick free by Deane.
Castlebar Mitchels would hit their purple patch and scored four of the next five points. Anthony O’Boyle, Steve Keane, Jack O’Reilly and James Durcan put Mitchels 0-10 to 0-6 ahead, with the sole response for Breaffy coming from Joe Mellett.
Breaffy responded well but their accuracy in front of the posts let them down, with Aidan Cunningham, John Vahey and David Livingstone all firing wide. Two further points, including a skyscraper by Brendan Gaughan, extended Mitchels’ lead to five when, shortly after Conor O’Shea pulled one back, James Cunningham was sent off.
The setback did not deter Mitchels and they managed the game well in the final stages, starving Breaffy of possession. Rory Byrne struck a ’45 down the centre in stoppage time to make it six from six for the home side, who finished with 13 men after substitute Mark Durcan was shown a black card late on.
