Replenishment is name of the game for Castlebar

This Sunday will see Castlebar Mitchels end a nine-year absence from the Mayo senior showpiece. For a club that is second only to Ballina Stephenites (39) on the winners list, one would suspect this is the longest they have had to wait. Yet it isn’t.

Current Castlebar Mitchels manager Kevin Filan was part of the squad that reached the senior final in 2010 in what was the club’s first final appearance following a defeat to Hollymount in the 1994 decider.

That 16-year absence was a more turbulent period by their high standards, having gone down to intermediate before getting promoted back as intermediate champions in 2005. But Kevin Filan believes it shows how high the standard within the county can be.

“Castlebar Mitchels is such a big club and I suppose having those gaps in getting to finals is not usually what you’d be thinking of, of club of the size of Castlebar Mitchels. But that just shows the quality of Mayo,” Filan told the Western People.

“There’s no guarantee you're going to get to finals. When these opportunities come along, you’ve got to take them. And back then in 2010, we had a crop of players that were coming and I suppose, they set the seed for the next few years of the finals that were won, you know, in ‘13 and then again in ’15, ’16, ’17.

“I suppose if you're asking any of the lads around the place in 2017, would it be 2026 before you’re back in a final, people would have laughed at you. But that’s just the reality of where it was and the small little margins that make a difference, and there’s another great crop coming through and you would have seen a lot of that firsthand.” 

Kevin Filan knows that better than most. He helped the club to a county minor ‘A’ title in 2016 and an under-21 ‘A’ title in 2023, and players from both those sides feature prominently in the senior team.

Their conveyor belt of talent has been a massive plus as Mitchels have had a fair amount of player turnover since last year. From the 2025 senior team, talented trio Paddy Heneghan, Gavin Durcan and Tomas Waldron have departed but with fresh talent across the senior and intermediate teams stepping up, as well as a core group of senior remaining from the three-in-a-row team, the strength in depth that Mitchels possess can be the envy of others.

Whether it is veteran Neil Douglas chipping over crucial scores to take out Ballina Stephenites, Joe Forry returning from an injury to make a huge impact against Aghamore and Breaffy, or their All-Ireland winning half-back line of Paddy Durcan, John MacMonagle and Sean Morahan coming from the back for scores, Castlebar Mitchels have weapons all across the pitch. But they have proven they can dig in and battle when required, especially in their semi-final victory when their firepower began to desert them in the second-half.

“I was delighted with [the win over Breaffy]. You know, we’re close neighbours and there’s always going to be a little heightened tension when you're playing against Breaffy as well, but I thought we managed the game really well in the first-half,” said Filan.

“We knew what Breaffy have, they're very physical, very strong around the middle of the park and I thought we'd probably won that battle in the first-half. Probably playing with the breeze helped us as well, we got a few scores on the board early and Breaffy kind of had to come out to play a little bit then.

“So yeah, very pleased with the first-half but not pleased with the second half, I thought we were only okay in the second-half, we went for a long spell without a score. We've talked a little bit about that because you do that the next day, you won't be coming out with a win, so that's definitely a work on.

“But we always knew Breaffy were going to come out and do something, to deliver something for themselves in the second-half, and it became a bit of a battle until probably it was only in the last two or three minutes we really could feel it on the sideline that you were home and hosed. But yeah, we probably got into a bit of a fight at end that we didn't need to get into.” 

Improvement then is required for the challenge that will be presented by their final opponents Garrymore, who Mitchels were beaten by in their group stage meeting. Filan expects a real test against the team who he believes has been the ‘best in the championship’.

“If we are to get over the line against them, we're going to have to play our best football this year. They've been very strong. They're really well organised, well coached,” said Filan.

“They were by far the better team that day up in Hollymount. We know that as well. They out-fought us, they out-taught us. So yeah, I’ve no doubt about the challenge that lies ahead of us with them.

“Of course, you learn from it, that’s what you're trying to do. They've actually probably pushed on a little bit more now since that.

“They've beaten a lot of people's favourites for the championship in Crossmolina. They've had them up in Garrymore and then they've had a good fight against Belmullet and I suppose extra-time, that extra 20 minutes will stand to them as well. We’ve no doubt that we have a big battle ahead of us to beat them.”