STRIKE IT RICH
Solace for Feeney in Castlebar campaign
AYEAR i n which Mayo again suffered All-Ireland grief could end on a high note on the club front after Castlebar Mitchels defied the bookies yesterday to reach the Connacht SFC final with an impressive display in wet and windy conditions.
Castlebar, who had not won a county title since 1993, deservedly ousted a Corofin side bidding to reach their fifth Connacht final in eight years.
Beaten in their first three provincial deciders before lifting their only crown in ’93, Castlebar showed a big improvement on their county final display against Breaffy and their willingness to take on the man when they had the ball won them a lot of openings and a lot of frees.
They had the physicality to carry out that task and Corofin, who badly missed their injured former Galway defender Kieran Fitzgerald, struggled to cope.
The game turned in the second quarter when Castlebar struck for two goals to lead by 2-4 to 1-5 at the break, despite playing against the wind.
Ritchie Feeney, who got the first of those goals, acknowledged their significance and said they will now have a go at dethroning All-Ireland champions St Brigid’s, who have won the last three Connacht titles.
An extended run with the club is helping Feeney cope with Mayo’s All-Ireland defeat and he hopes that the year will end on a high as they aim to become the first Mayo club to win the Connacht title since Ballina Stephenites in 2007.
‘I’m one of the lucky lads to be still playing club football at this time of year. There are a lot of the Mayo lads who would still love to be playing but hopefully we can do Mayo proud and keep going,’ said Feeney. ‘Our first goal this year was to win the county title, but maybe in the back of our minds we were looking further than that.
‘St Brigid’s are a massive challenge. They are All-Ireland champions and are going for their fourth Connacht title in a row but we are delighted to get a crack at them,’ added Feeney, who was on hand to fist to the net after 17 minutes of a cracking contest. A string of handpasses opened the Corofin defence and Feeney made no mistake when Neil Douglas fisted across the goal.
It got even better for the Mayo champions four minutes l ater when Donal Newcombe cracked an effort off the crossbar and Neil Lydon followed up to blast to the net during an exciting opening half.
Earlier, Corofin got a big boost when Gary Sice raised a green flag after eight minutes, while it took a good save from Castl e bar goalkeeper Ciarán Naughton to deny Alan O’Donovan.
Points from Sice and O’Donovan helped them open up a 1-3 to 0-1 lead after 14 minutes but then Castlebar hit back and their two goals turned the game around.
The tempo of the game dropped somewhat in the heavy rain in the second half as Corofin tried to work the ball through against the wind and Castlebar kept plenty of men back in defence where Tom Cunniffe and Eoghan O’Reilly were superb.
Castlebar outscored Corofin by 0-3 to 0-2 in the third quarter and they pulled four points clear when Tom King landed his fourth point 12 minutes from the end.
Castlebar didn’t score after that as Corofin refused to die and came storming back. Ian Burke and Sice hit points and Cunniffe scrambled an effort off the line in the closing stages, but the Mayo champions held on for a deserved win.
Now they will attempt to end a glorious year on a high and 20 years after playing a pivotal role as a player when they emerged from the province, former Mayo star Pat Holmes is poised to achieve the same feat as a manager.