Seniors v Castlebar – Championship Round 1 – Match Report
Davitts 0-5 Castlebar Mitchels 1-10.
A greater scoring threat up front ensured that Castlebar came away from Ballindine victorious in this Senior Championship tie in front of a large attendance. The exchanges were tough in this dour game and Pat Holmes men will be very relieved to leave with the points. Only three points separated the sides with ten minutes remaining but Castlebar showed their class to finish the game with five unanswered scores.
Davitts opened the scoring with a first minute Josh Ronayne point. Aidan Walsh replied for Castlebar in the 4 th and 7th minutes before a monster free from Ronan McNamara levelled the game after ten minutes. The game’s crucial score came in the 12th minute when Donal Newcombe got on the end of a fine Mitchels move and finished emphatically past a helpless Adrian McNamara in the Davitts goal. They led by 1-5 to 0-3 at the break after further points from Neil Douglas, Richie Feeney, playing at full forward, and Kevin Filan, with McNamara replying for the homeside.
Davitts came out fired up in the second half and were dominating the midfield exchanges through the efforts of Ronan McNamara and Paul Carey. A trademark long range McNamara free and a Keith Prendergast point, after a superb move, narrowed the gap to three points after ten minutes but they just couldn’t translate their superiority onto the scoreboard. Castlebar, to their credit, weathered the storm and rifled late scores from man of the match Richie Feeney (3), Eamon Tiernan and Aidan Walsh to come away with a deserved victory.
Best for Castlebar along with Feeney were Tom Cunniffe, Eoghan O Reilly, Donal Newcombe, Ronan Burke, Aidan Walsh, Tom King and the ageless Kevin Filan.
Davitts had top performances from Adrian McNamara, Donal Ronayne, still a minor, James Cummins, Alan Roche, who delighted the crowd with some spectacular legitimate hits, Colm Boyle, Ronan McNamara, Paul Carey and Josh Ronayne.
Castlebar: Ciaran Naughton, Eoghan O Reilly, Richie Feeney (0-4), Alan Feeney, Ronan Burke, Tom Cunniffe, Donal Newcombe (1-0), Danny Kirby, Ger McDonagh, Shane Hopkins, Aidan Walsh (0-3), Alan Flynn, Eamon Tiernan (0-1), Neil Douglas (0-1), Kevin Filan (0-1). Subs used: Tom King, Fergal Durkan.
Davitts: Adrian McNamara, Colm Roche, Cathal Higgins, Donal Ronayne, James Cummins, Alan Roche, Colm Boyle, Ronan McNamara (0-3), Paul Carey, Josh Ronayne (0-1), Fearghal McGrath, Keith Prendergast (0-1), Andrew Peters, David McDonagh, Liam Kearns. Sub used: Thomas Waldron.
Ref: Michael Daly.
