Douglas inspires Mitchels to victory
TOURLESTRANE C. BAR MITCHELS 0- 05 1- 10 TOURLESTRANE’S Connacht Senior Championship campaign came to an end on Saturday afternoon as they suffered a comprehensive defeat at the hands of Mayo champions Castlebar Mitchels.
Neil Douglas scored 1- 05 for the Castlebar side, who held a 1- 06 to 0- 01 lead at half- time, forcing Tourlestrane to spend the majority of the half behind their own 45 line, defending for their lives.
Few would have given Tourlestrane a chance in this game, considering that Mitchels were All Ireland Club Championship finalists in two of the last three years.
Mitchels, backed by their large travelling support, were utterly dominant in the early stages of the game, and although Tourlestrane defended well in the early stages, they soon came through.
Barry Moran hit the post after two minutes, before the South Sligo side had a wonderful opportunity to hit the back of the net.
Brian Egan played in Alan Dunne, whose shot was well saved by Rory Byrne in the Mitchels goal.
James Durkan, whose brother Paddy missed out through injury, hit over Mitchels’ first point of the day after eight minutes before the excellent Neil Douglas opened his account with 11 on the clock.
Fergal Durkan could very well have extended Mitchels’ lead even further, but his shot was saved by Padraig McVeigh in the Tourlestrane goal, with Douglas on hand to hit over the rebound.
An exquisite ball from Aidan Walsh from the left was driven right into the stride of Douglas who needed to invitation to strike past McVeigh to give Mitchels a comfortable 1- 03 to 0- 00 lead after 19 minutes, with Douglas again hitting over again to take his tally for the afternoon to 1- 03.
Eamonn O’Hara and Gerry McGowan’s side were really under severe pressure for the duration of the first half, at one point every single player wearing green and yellow was parked behind the 45 metre line, an indication of how dominant the Mayo side really were. James Durkan and Douglas added further points before halftime, as Adrian McIntyre hit over their only point of the first- half just seconds before half- time.
Tourlestrane, to their credit, started much brighter in the second- half, even though their task was an almost impossible one.
Brian Egan’s 34th minute point lessened the deficit, but Douglas restored the eight point lead after 36 minutes. Cathal Henry’s black card did not help matters for Tourlestrane, but neither did Douglas’ for Mitchels.
David Stenson extended the lead for Mitchels, but Liam Gaughan responded almost immediately as he came off the bench.
Niall Egan hit over to bring the scoreline to 1- 08 to 0- 04, before Pat Harte scored their fifth point of the day, a significant improvement on their first half display but it was still a huge ask.
Cian Costello and Fergal Durkan rounded off a solid performance from Mitchels with their scores in the final few minutes to take their side through to the Connacht Club Championship semi- final.
Mitchels will meet Corofin in the Connacht semi- final.
Tourlestrane: Padraig McVeigh, Colin Neary, Brian Kennedy, John Francis Carr, Gary Gaughan, Adri- an McIntyre, James Leonard ( Barry Walsh, 16), Stephen Henry, John Quinn, Pat Harte, Cathal Henry ( Niall Egan, black card sub, 39), Alan Dunne ( Liam Gaughan, 31 [ John Kelly, black card sub, 53]), John Kelly ( Shane Dunne, 51), John Marren, Brian Egan.
Castlebar Mitchels: Rory Byrne, Shane Irwin, Ger McDonagh, Donie Newcombe, Ray O’Malley, Eoghan O’Reilly, Rhyne Collins ( Ronan Burke, 59), Aidan Walsh ( Anthony O’Boyle, black card sub, 51), Barry Moran, Fergal Durkan, David Stenson ( David Joyce, 59), James Durkan ( Cian Costello, 54), Danny Kirby ( Neil Lydon, 46), Neil Douglas ( Calum Kyne, black card sub, 41), Shane Hopkins.
Referee: Eamonn O’Grady.