From Castlebar - County Mayo -
Castlebar Mitchels Notes 30 June 2002
By Noel Byrne
1, Jul 2002 - 14:17
Co League Div 2A Bonniconlon 1-6 : Castlebar Mitchels 1-9.
The Mitchels came away with the two points they were looking for but left a lot of questions unanswered. In a game in which they dominated possession and indeed territorially they were fortunate not to be caught by a Bonniconlon side which stormed back into the game in the last ten minutes.
Playing against the wind in the first half, Mitchels set about the job on hand with a flourish. Kevin Filan scored after three minutes and indeed with a good supply of the ball from the backs and centre field they had many opportunities to score. With the rain coming down ball handling became difficult but still Ciaran Naughton had a solid defence in front of him. Dara Larkin was again dominant and he was ably assisted by Brian Henley and Paul Harte. The half back line of Malone, Shawe and Byrne used every opportunity to come forward but at times crowded the forward area. Shane Fitzmaurice was breaking a lot of ball from the centre field position and together with Eamonn Shaughnessy ensured that any Bonniconlon attacks were decisively stopped. The forwards were combining well, even at times if they were guilty of over elaboration and poor decision making. However a delightful move after twenty minutes saw Dwayne Flynn running onto a deadly accurate pass to crash the ball to the back of the net. At half time Mitchels lead by 1-3 to 0-2.
Mitchels continued the second half with a lot of possession but the forwards became lax in front of goal and kicked some very bad wides. Holding onto the ball allowed the Bonniconlon defence to regroup time and again and forced the Mitchels to play as individuals rather than as a team in the forwards. Being unable to put the game out of reach, the inevitable happened when the backs were caught napping and Bonniconlon nipped in for a well taken goal. Indeed they could have added a second five minutes later and Mitchels breathed a deep sigh of relief as the ball trickled inches wide. Bonniconlon grew in confidence and took the game to the Mitchels in the last ten minutes as they searched hard for the elusive goal but time beat then in the end. This was not an inspiring performance by the Mitchels and with the championship just around the corner there will be some anxious moments over the next few training sessions.
Castlebar Mitchels
Ciaran Naughton, Brian Henley, Dara Larkin, Paul Harte, Brian Malone, Declan Shaw, Tim Byrne, Eamon Shaughnessy, Shane Fitzmaurice, Dwayne Flynn (1 -2), Kevin Filan (0-2), Ritchie Feeney, Diarmuid Byrne (0-2), Jamie Fitzmaurice (0-2), Paul Jordan (0-1), Subs used R O Grady, R Burke, D Gordon, D Quinn, R Ruane
West Mayo Junior Football Championship
Castlebar Mitchels 3-7 : Achill 3-12
Despite a much improved performance the Mitchels juniors had to give second best to a more accurate Achill team in this match played last Sat. The game was played in a competitive manner all through and with some good passages of play both teams served up an entertaining hours championship football. Mistakes were made but a slightly fitter Achill team were quicker to the breaking ball and put the Mitchell’s defence under pressure particularly wit their ability to take points. Both sets of forwards were alert to goal opportunities and all six goals were well taken. The Mitchels were most disappointed with this result and will be determined to redress the result in the next game
C. Dawson, D Melvin, J McSharry, K Mullaghy, W Hurst, C Kane, J O Malley, S Murphy, C Golden, B Henley, F McHale, M Rocke, M Durkin, K Gillick, G Noone
Coaching Development
A special coaching and development course will be held commencing on Jul 8. Full details are available from Joe McCabe. This course is highly recommended for all who are involved in teams at all levels and indeed for those who would like to become involved. A great opportunity - so make contact for all details and come along on Jul 8th
Big Match.
Once again many sincere thanks to all who helped out in any way at the Connaught Final today
Noel Byrne
PRO Castlebar Mitchels
094-21625
087-2643104
E-Mail : tjnbyrne@eircom.net
© Copyright 2002 by Castlebar - County Mayo -
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