‘Port power past Mitchels to end long wait for league glory
Westport attacker Finbar McLaughlin is tackled by Joe Touhy of Castlebar Mitchels.
The promised heavyweight showdown ended up as little more than an exhibition as Westport cruised to the Mayo Senior Football League Division 1 League title, a first in 49 years, over rivals Castlebar Mitchels in MacHale Park last Saturday evening.
Were it a boxing fight, match official Liam Devenney might have called this off early as Westport took a 10 point lead into half-time and were full value for it. Across the park, they were superior. They were stronger, quicker and played with an intensity that Mitchels simply could not match.
With Eoghan McLaughlin and Kevin Keane playing no part and Lee Keegan only coming on in the final ten minutes, Westport have an abundance of depth that few in the county can match and on this evidence will take some stopping in their bid to reclaim the Moclair Cup, which begins with a trip to Balla on the weekend after next.
Conversely, bar the duo of James Cunningham and Johnny Maughan, the performance of Castlebar Mitchels left much to be desired, particularly in the first-half. They were four points down after eight minutes and even at that early stage were chasing shadows. It could have been more but Cunningham superbly blocked down Niall McManamon’s shot on goal.
Westport, who had lost to Mitchels after extra-time in an absolutely thrilling Division 1 final 12 months earlier, made good use of the wind in the first-half, with their goalkeeper Paddy O’Malley sending over two 45s and a trio of monster frees which were all around the 55-metre mark over the 30 minutes.
All Castlebar could muster in that opening half were two Ethan Gibbons frees and a great point from the boot of Anthony O’Boyle, as the Westport team hassled and hurried Mitchels into turnovers. A near-flawless opening period saw Finbar McLaughlin, Mark Moran, Luke Tunney and Killian Kilkelly extend their side’s lead further, the only wide coming with the final kick by Paul Lambert as Westport led 0-13 to 0-3 at the interval.
The introduction of Paddy Heneghan into the Mitchels attack for the second period re-energised the group and they kicked three of the first four points through James Durcan, Ethan Gibbons, a free, and Conor Stenson. However, they also struck the post on no fewer than three occasions in the second-half while Neil Douglas also saw a great strike on goal cannon back off the woodwork with O’Malley beaten.
Westport were unable to reach the heights they did in the first-half but nor did they have to, with their 10 points lead still in place coming into the final quarter, having scored three points in the first eight minutes of the half. The best of these came when Kilkelly beat Bob Tuohy via a clever dummy before tapping over.
A further two points by Ethan Gibbons and one each by Gavin Durcan and Bob Tuohy were the final efforts for Mitchels on the evening but Westport continued to flex their muscles, introducing Conor McGraynor, Lee Keegan, Alan Kennedy and Pat Lambert late on.
Rory Brickenden, from a mark, and man-of-the-match Finbar McLaughlin pointed late on before Mayo star Brickenden put the icing on the cake, charging straight through the Castlebar Mitchels backline to fire the ball into the net as the Coveys won a first Mayo Senior League title since 1975.
Scorers – Westport: Paddy O’Malley 0-5 (3f, 2 ‘45s), Rory Brickenden 1-1 (0-1m), Finbarr McLaughlin 0-3, Mark Moran, Killian Kilkelly and Liam Shevlin 0-2 each, Colm Moran, Luke Tunney and Joe Grady 0-1 each.
Castlebar Mitchels: Ethan Gibbons 0-5 (3f), Anthony O’Boyle, Conor Stenson, Gavin Durcan, James Durcan and Bob Tuohy 0-1 each.
Westport: Paddy O’Malley; Brian McDermott, Niall McManamon, Luke Tunney; Ronan Geraghty, Rory Brickenden, Paul Lambert; Finbarr McLaughlin, Joe Grady; Conal Dawson, Mark Moran, Kevin Maguire; Colm Moran, Liam Shevlin, Killian Kilkelly. Subs: Conor McGraynor (for Shevlin 50), Lee Keegan (for Grady 54), Pat Lambert (for Kilkelly 55), Alan Kennedy (for C Moran 57), Danny Brennan (for McLaughlin 59).
Castlebar Mitchels: Rory Byrne; Ruairi Burke, Joe Tuohy, Jack O’Reilly; Johnny Maughan, James Cunningham, Ultan O’Reilly; Conor Stenson, Bob Tuohy; Neil Douglas, Steve Keane, Anthony O’Boyle; Ethan Gibbons, Gavin Durcan, James Durcan. Subs: Mark Moore (for Byrne 18-19, blood), Mark Dolan and Paddy Heneghan (for Burke and Keane ht), Michael Fahy (for Cunningham 41), Ciaran Mylett and Fergal Durkan (for Douglas and Stenson 52).
REF: Liam Devenney (Ballina Stephenites).
