Davitts v Castlebar – County Cup semi-final
The gulf between Senior and Intermediate grade looked expansive in Claremorris on Sunday afternoon, as Castlebar completely overwhelmed Davitts by a scoreline of 0-19 to 0-8 in the County Cup semi-final.
The half time score was 0-10 to 0-2, Davitts only two scores coming from team captain Michael Conroy. The first, following a powerful run by Keith Glynn, the second after Conroy skinned the Castlebar defender and opted to fist the ball over bar instead of testing the goalkeeper. Castlebar were completely dominant in every sector of the pitch for long periods, with centre forward Kevin Filan pulling all the strings in the Castlebar attack.
Davitts might have hoped that the stiff breeze that would be assisting them in the second half would provide the advantage required to reel Castlebar in. Davitts did start the half brightly, outscoring Castlebar three points to one – two long range efforts (one free) from halftime substitute Ronan McManara and one from Conroy. However, any thoughts of a comeback were dashed as Castlebar then assumed total control of the game, scoring eight unanswered points in a fifteen minute blitz. The Davitts defence was unable to deal with the powerful running game of Castlebar, the Mitchels scoring at will. With the game effectively over, Conroy added a further two points , either side of an Aidan McTigue point.
Davitts had best performers on the day in Colm Roche, Ronan McNamara, Keith Glynn (until he sustained a head injury and had to be replaced) and Michael Conroy. There will be a lot of lessons to be learned from this game, with the first round of the Intermediate Championship just around the corner.
Davitts: Mark Diskin, Tommy Nolan, Frankie Barrett, Kevin Gallagher, Martin Cosgrove, James Cummins, Colm Roche, Pat Coyne, Keith Glynn, Keith Prendergast, Carlos O’Gara, Liam Kearns, Aidan McTigue, David McDonagh, Michael Conroy. Subs: Paul Carey, Ronan McNamara, Seamus Roche, Johnno Clarke
