Youthful core to drive Davitts on against Mitchels B
Davitts’ Niall Treacy tries to hold his balance as Castlebar Mitchels Emmet Murphy looks on during the Mayo U-21A championship semi-final at Ballindine last year. Picture: David Farrell Photography
A talented Davitts will hope to get out of their group this year as they begin their championship in the county town against Mitchels ‘B’.
Like many teams who have gotten relegated from senior, Davitts realised how tough it can be to return to the top tier at the first time of asking but there still would have been disappointment that they failed to get of the group stage, with defeat to Islandeady seeing them finish third in their group.
Cathal Higgins, Sean Keadin and Tomas Ronayne are key men at the back. They have an impressive array of young talent including former U20 star Jack Melvin and senior panelist Fenton Kelly. Niall Treacy and Dylan Gallagher have the firepower up top while Mayo legend Colm Boyle needs no introduction.
They secured Division 1 football for 2025 after a draw in their final game against intermediate rivals Parke/Keelogues/Crimlin and they will be target maximum points against a Mitchels team who had had a nightmare year so far. They didn’t pick up a point in the league as they were relegated to Division 3 League football for next year, with a points difference of -123.
The nature of intermediate teams means who is available is subject to the demands of their senior side and a number of players from last year’s team, including Jack O’Reilly and John MacMonagle have since moved on to the senior ranks.
They still have talented goalkeeper Peter Basquille and the experienced Ray O’Malley while the likes of Ben McHale, Conor Mulroy and Calum Kyne would be useful squad additions as they look to upset the apple cart once more.
Mitchels ‘B’ were one of the stories of last year’s championships as they enjoyed a great run to the semi-finals before beating beaten by Ballinrobe. But given their woeful league run, it is hard to see them doing something similar.
