Castlebar - County Mayo - Mitchels v Moy Davitts

Mitchels U18 (0-9) v Moy Davitts (0-8)
An under strength Mitchels Minors nearly committed suicide, but still managed to come away with two points from their encounter with Moy Davitts on Good Friday last. Played in McHale Park in ideal conditions, the Mitchels squandered chance after chance, accumulating 16 wides but in the end valiantly holding on to win by 9 points to 8. No doubt the management team will be asking many questions as to which boots the players were wearing. A game that could have and should have been won a lot easier turned into a nail-biting end.

Moy Davitts were first out of the blocks and for the first twenty minutes virtually owned the ball and led by three points to a solitary Niall Lydon point. However players like Eamonn Tiernan, Joe Corcoran, Colm Gavin, David Gordon and John Flannelly were not prepared to lie down. Tiernan, in particular, roamed the field and put much of the possession to good use. Scores from Michael Rocke, Lydon and a great solo effort by David Gordon brought Mitchels back into the game. Alan Hyland and Lydon responded to Moy Davitts two points to leave the half time score at 6 points to 5 in favour of the Mitchels.

The second half saw Cormac Marrinan take ownership of midfield and from the throw-in he hit the upright with a great shot. Lydon scored from the 21 with a fine free in the first minute. Mitchels had a monopoly of possession for the first twenty minutes of the half but only managed to kick ten wides. Over-playing the ball, trying to always beat an opponent, not aware of support players running in better positions, bunching into the middle of the park, allied to woeful shooting all contributed to a dismal patch in the game, which inevitably led to a resurgence by Moy Davitts. Joe Corcoran, however, scored an important point in the 20th minute as Moy Davitts came back to level the game at 8 points each. John Flannelly led the defence in stopping many attacks. David Walsh and Alan Feeney ably flanked him. It was fitting that man of the match Tiernan got the final score in the 24 min.

Ritchie Byrne dealt capably with anything, which came his way. Sean Ryder made many telling runs up field and David Gordon and Keith Joyce emulated his example. Cormac Marrinan came into his own in the second half and played some very good football. The half-forward line of Corcoran, Tiernan and Hyland caused constant problems for the defence. In the full forward line Michael Rocke, Colm Gavin and Neill Lydon got a lot of possession and played some intelligent football, even if the returns on the scoreboard were not always the just reward

Scores: Niall Lydon (0-4) (3 frees). Michael Rocke (0-1). Eamonn Tiernan (0-1), Alan Hyland (0-1), Joe Corcoran (0-1), David Gordon (0-1)

Mitchels

Ritchie Byrne, David Walsh, John Flannelly, Alan Feeney, Sean Ryder, David Gordon, Keith Joyce, Cormac Marrinan, Rory O Grady, Joe Corcoran, Eamonn Tiernan, Alan Hyland, Michael Rocke, Colm Gavin, Neill Lydon. Subs Neil O Donnell for O Grady, James Killeen for Hyland.

Noel Byrne
163 Westport Rd
Castlebar
Co Mayo
Tele 094-21625
Mob 087-2643104