Westport conquer Castle’ in tight and tense derby
A pair of two-pointers by Pat Lambert, one in each half, were significant in the context of Westport's 0-16 to 0-15 win against West Mayo rivals Castlebar Mitchels in Mayo SFL Division 1.
Westport finished strongly to pick up their first Division 1 win this season when overcoming rivals Castlebar Mitchels in a tight affair from start to finish last Saturday evening.
A trio of Andy Moran’s Mayo panel who had not made the matchday squad for the Connacht SFC semi-final against Roscommon the following afternoon were involved. Conal Dawson lined out at full-forward for Westport while Mitchels duo John MacMonagle and Sean Morahan were at full and half-back respectively. The latter had an impressive display and scored two excellent points, but the scoring power that was evident in their one-sided win over Ballintubber a week previously was noticeably absent.
In a game as tight as this – which saw the teams’ level on no fewer than ten occasions – two-point efforts were going to be crucial, and two from play by Pat Lambert, coupled with one from a wonderfully struck free by Patrick O’Malley when the game was on a knife edge, were ultimately the difference.
Joe Grady opened the scoring for Westport on four minutes, following a clever pass by Dawson to set up the strike for the midfielder. Mitchels responded with three points on the spin through Calum Filan, Sean Morahan and John MacMonagle, with Morahan’s strike a brilliant effort as he flew down the middle of the field before swinging over from 30 metres out.
MacMonagle’s point was met with an instant response from Westport, Pat Lambert sending over the first of his two-pointers to level matters, and the Coveys would go ahead for a second time thanks to Mark Moran.
A free from Calum Filan restored parity at the end of the first quarter, and Mitchels nudged themselves ahead on four separate occasions only for Westport to peg them back each time before the break.
Anthony O’Boyle, Filan (two, one free), and Ethan Gibbons each put the county town men ahead only for Westport to respond through Luke Tunney and three efforts from Colm Moran, leaving the game delicately balanced at 0-8 apiece at the interval.
The second-half would begin in a similar vein, but when Sean Morahan put Castlebar Mitchels back in front again with a fabulous strike, Pat Lambert countered with his second two-pointer to put the home side in front.
Now it was Mitchels time to drag themselves back, with Anthony O’Boyle and Ethan Gibbons pointing either side of a Killian Kilkelly free to leave it 0-11 apiece with seven minutes played in the second-half.
Both sides fluffed chances to go back in front, with Finbar McLaughlin seeing two efforts go the wrong side of the post while Eoghan Hughes, Ethan Gibbons and Neil Douglas all missed chances for Kevin Filan’s side as the game entered the final quarter.
Ethan Gibbons put Mitchels back in front with a free, as the Red and Yellow converted back-to-back points for the first time since the 10th minute.
Killian Kilkelly made this contest a level game for the tenth time with his second free before James Cunningham turned over Westport and ran down the field to set up Eoghan Hughes for a point with eleven minutes remaining.
Paddy O’Malley struck an inspirational free off the ground from beyond the 45-metre line to restore the lead for Westport. Mark Moran had a goal chance to seal the win but his strike was tipped over the bar by Rory Byrne.
The single wouldn’t do Westport any harm though, and Colm Moran’s point gave them a three-point buffer with seconds of injury time remaining, with a two-point free from Ethan Gibbons in the last action of the game all in vain.
REF: Paul Lydon (Kiltimagh)
