Charlestown Sarsfields had a terrific morale boosting victory over Castlebar Mitchels in the final of the Michael Walsh senior league final played at the Aghamore G.A.A grounds on Friday night August 27th.
The Sarsfields went into the contest as underdogs having shipped three defeats on the bounce and looked to have lost their way after a promising start to the season. They emerged from their mid season slump in some style however as they turned in a display full of vim and vigour and were good value for their 2-9 to 1-9 victory with the scoreboard reflecting somewhat favourably on the Mitchels as they were a beaten docket long before the final whistle.
The green and white were on it from the throw-in and played some sparkling football in the opening ten minutes with the full forward trio of Jack Mahon, Jack Corley and Paddy Lenehan running amok with Jack Corley and Jack Mahon cracking home two brilliant goals care of two Paddy Lenehan assists which gave real impetus to the Sarsfields challenge with the Mtchels struggling to deal with the pace and movement of the inside trio.
The Sarsfields were moving with real intent between the lines and further points from Mahon , Jack Reilly and Thomas Meehan left them seven clear with the Mitchels only managing a paltry two in reply as the Sarsfields defence doubled down and closed off all the avenues to goal.
The Mitchels misfired badly in front of goal and hit some poor wides from very advantageous positions as the Sarsfields continued to rampage forward with Paddy Goldrick firing over a terrific point which summed up all that was good about the Sarsfields first half performance as they bristled with intent and aggression which proved too much for the Mitchels who spent most of the half chasing shadows.
Two more points from Jack Mahon extended the Sarsfields lead with the county town managing one in reply to leave the Sarsfields in real control as they led 2-5 to 0-3 at the interval.
The Mitchels began the second half with a real physical intent as they started to engage the Sarsfields in the middle third and upped their tackle count considerably. They met the Sarsfields head on and thundered into challenges which forced turnovers as the game took on a real edge.
The Sarsfields found possession hard to come by in the first quarter of the second half but the defensive unit stood firm in the face of the Mitchels onslaught with Gerard McLoughlin , Ben Conway, Niall Murphy Conor O`Donohue, Alan Woods and David Caffrey standing tall in the face of incessant pressure.
The Mitchels hit four unanswered points in their spell of dominance which was scant enough reward for all their pressure with the water break giving the Sarsfields a chance of some respite as they looked to re-stock their energy levels and reset their focus.
The action following the water break was no less frenetic as the Mitchels continued to ratchet up the pressure. The Sarsfields needed a score to lift the siege and it duly arrived in the shape of Jack Reilly who clipped over a super point to ease the pressure . From there to the finish Reilly took centre stage as he illuminated the final ten minutes with some moments of class as two more magical scores from play off either foot doused the county town challenge as the game drifted back into the grasp of the Sarsfields.
Jack Mahon followed Reilly`s lead as he crashed over the Sarsfields ninth and final point to put six between the teams again with time almost up. The Mitchels did manage to have the final say when Danny Kirby rammed home a fourteen yard free but it was mere consolation and succeeded only in putting a better gloss on the scoreboard for the Mitchels who were second best for most of the game except for a fifteen minute spell after half time.
The final whistle was greeted with jubilation in the Sarsfields camp as they left behind some drab performances of late and turned in a display which re- ignites high hopes that their championship campaign might yield more of the same in the coming weeks. A good team performance all round with Jack Reilly and Jack Mahon dominating the scoreboard as they kicked some stellar points with Jack Corley also enhancing his burgeoning reputation with a display full of promise . The defensive unit stood up to all Castlebar had to throw at them while Paddy Walsh, Patrick Goldrick, Thomas Meehan, Gareth O`Donnell and Niall Fleming also played their part in no small way in delivering silverware with Gareth O`Donnell accepting the cup from Michael Daly who was representing the county board.
A good day at the office for Martin Mulvaney and his management team of Richard Wynne, Philip Finn and Vinnie Doherty with the team responding in spades to the challenge laid down before them.