Melvin is magic as Davitts unleash their firepower
Louisburgh's Isaac O’Grady is pursued by Davitts' Shane Treacy. Picture: Tom Quinn.
A brace of majors in each half provided the platform for Davitts to cement their place in the Egan Jewellers Mayo IFC quarter-finals over a gallant Louisburgh.
Davitts needed a win to be sure of their progress, and their victory saw them setup a mouthwatering tie against Ballyhaunis on Sunday week.
Jack Melvin hit the net in both halves and by full-time had contributed two goals and seven points to Davitts’ tally.
Even though Louisburgh’s fate was already sealed – their defeat to Lahardane sees them into another relegation battle – they gave as good as they got and almost got a dream start through Dylan Prendergast only to see his strike on goal saved well by Dylan O’Brien.
The miss would not deter Louisburgh’s talisman as he opened the scoring with his first two-pointer of the game moments later, making full use of the stiff wind they had at their backs in the first-half.
Shane and Niall Treacy would soon level the game for Davitts before they took the lead on nine minutes when Jack Melvin was well placed to finish into the net after Fenton Kelly’s shot on goal was spilled by the Louisburgh goalkeeper.
Louisburgh continued to make full use of the inclement conditions that were in their favour and two-pointers from Prendergast, a free, and a stunner from Pearce O’Malley (a gem of a score) put the Black and Amber back in front on 13 minutes.
But the red-hot Davitts attack continued to create openings. Ciaran Treacy and Cian Naughton both pointed before the Ballindine side raised their second green flag of the evening on 23 minutes courtesy of Niall Treacy, who finished off a well-worked move to put them 2-4 to 0-8 in front.
Louisburgh would finish the half strongly and reeled off the next seven points in a row. Both Basil McLeod and Oisin Lally picked off marvellous two-pointers while Tommy Morahan, Cian O’Malley and another Dylan Prendergast free put Louisburgh 0-15 to 2-4 in front at the interval.
Now with the wind at their back, Davitts began to eat away at the Louisburgh lead. Jack Ronayne got their first point of the second-half while a two-pointer from All-Ireland winner Fenton Kelly had the supporters of the South Mayo men in full voice.
The noise got louder with the introduction of Colm Boyle and Davey Hennessy, and both would go on to have a big impact over the remainder of this contest.
It seemed like Louisburgh were beginning to falter and they were hit with a big blow following Niall Treacy’s leveller on 41 minutes as a minute later, Jack Melvin and Cian Naughton combined as they looked to breach the Louisburgh goal for a third time. Naughton’s palmed effort was stopped by Louisburgh goalkeeper Matthew Kilcoyne, but Ciaran Treacy was well placed to raise another green flag.
The West Mayo men kept on coming and they brought it back to one through a pair of Prendergast points, one free, and the gap remained at one, 3-11 to 0-19, as the sides exchanged two-pointers through Niall Treacy and a stunning free by Prendergast against the wind.
From here, Davitts upped the intensity and would outscore Louisburgh 1-9 to 0-1 in the final quarter. Melvin converted a pair of two-point frees either side of a Niall Treacy single placed ball and on 58 minutes, the game was put to bed when Melvin found the net for a second time after a clever one-two between himself and Niall Treacy.
It was an outstanding display, who bolstered his tally with another three points before the finish, including a two-point free, as Davitts secured their place in the last eight.
Scorers – Davitts: Jack Melvin 2-3-1 (3tpf), Niall Treacy 1-1-4 (0-3f), Ciaran Treacy 1-0-2, Fenton Kelly 0-1-0, Cian Naughton, Shane Treacy and Jack Ronayne 0-0-1 each.
Louisburgh: Dylan Prendergast 0-3-5 (2tpf, 4f), Basil McLeod, Pearce O’Malley and Oisin Lally 0-1-0 each, Tommy Morahan 0-0-2, Cian O’Malley 0-0-1.
Davitts: Dylan O’Brien; Tomas Ronayne, Cathal Higgins, Brian Birmingham; Tom Waldron, Charlie Phillips, Conor McDermott; Cian Naughton, Fenton Kelly; Shane Treacy, Jack Ronayne, Jack Melvin; Darragh McGale, Niall Treacy, Ciaran Treacy. Subs used: Colm Boyle, Davey Hennessy, Ronan Kelly, Tadhg Feerick, Dylan Burke.
Louisburgh: Matthew Kilcoyne; Isaac O’Grady, Ben Cox, Damien O’Malley; Ben Moran, Mikey Dawson, Basil MacLeod; Ray Prendergast, Diarmaid Lally; Paul O’Malley, Dylan Prendergast, Pearce O’Malley; Tommy Morahan, Oisin Lally, Cian O’Malley. Subs used: Kevin Gibbons, Ciaran Jennings, Conor Gannon, Diarmuid Coen.
REF: Sean Reilly (The Neale)
