Castlebar star Kirby confident that current squad is best yet

MAYO midfielder Danny Kirby says that Castlebar Mitchels’ squad is stronger than ever ahead of their Connacht final date with Corofin. Castlebar travel to Tuam Stadium on Sunday where they clash with the reigning Connacht champions in a repeat of last year’s provincial semi-final. Corofin were victorious on a 0-17 to 0-14 scoreline on that occasion, but in their 2015 meeting Castlebar claimed a 2-10 to 0-11 victory in the Connacht final. And 25-year-old Kirby says this Castlebar team are more than capable of representing the province again this season. ‘Some people might think that we are not as good as we used to be. But within the 35man panel we all believe that we are probably better than any time before,’ he said. ‘We are just happy to still be going and still be in a Connacht club championship.’ Kirby was a 74thminute replacement for Kevin McLoughlin in this year’s AllIreland final where, Mayo suffered more heartbreak at the hands of Jim Gavin’s all-conquering Dublin at Croke Park. But he admits that he is delighted to still be playing football so late into the year and says big competitive matches are what keeps him ticking. ‘It has been a long year. Playing games is what you want to do. It would be a different story if you were training week in week out and waiting for three to four weeks for a game,’ he continued. ‘Since it’s week on week, and game on game you are loving it. That’s why you play football, is to play games. You don’t want to be slogging on the back pitch doing runs. You want to be playing. ‘We are delighted to be here and we will take every game as it comes.’