Rochford regime ‘may see Feeney’s return’

BARRY MORAN has claimed Stephen Rochford’s imminent appointment could open the door for Richie Feeney’s recall to the Mayo panel. Veteran Feeney, 32, played a pivotal role in helping Castlebar win a second Connacht club title inside three years on Sunday by beating a Corofin team that was managed by Rochford. Castlebar’s impressive display was driven by a number of players who are on the fringes of the county team, including Neil Douglas — who scored a spectacular matchwinning goal — and Danny Kirby. Meanwhile Alan Feeney, younger brother of Richie, has not featured for the county since 2013 when he was axed midseason by James Horan. Now Moran believes that the door is open for several of his team-mates to swell the Castlebar contingent on the county team — along with the midfielder, only Tom Cunniffe and Paddy Durcan saw game-time this season — including Feeney, who has not featured since coming off the bench in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Kerry. ‘Richie Feeney is like a fine wine, he is getting better with age. ‘There are a couple other lads there as well — Neil Douglas was in the county squad this year and he did not see much game-time but I thought he had a massive second half against Corofin while Paddy Durcan is getting better and better. ‘The one thing with any manager in charge of Mayo; you will be judged on form. There are a good few of our lads who are playing absolutely brilliantly and I am sure that they will be called up and rightfully so,’ predicted Moran, who believes that Castlebar are being driven by the hurt of losing last year’s All-Ireland final to St Vincent’s. ‘Looking back, it was a learning curve and we learned an awful lot. We had only won the county title for the first time in 20 years. We have a couple of years more under our belt now and I think that experience is showing now,’ he said.