While the fog did not lift last Saturday in Castlebar, as the Mitchels finally saw off the challenge of Breaffy in the u21 A semi final, the result will stand unlike the previous week’s game which was blown up early. At the end of 60 minutes of hard fought and often times blind play the Mitchels came out deserved winners by 1-9 to 0-8. That win for Paul Jordan and Tommy O'Malley's side has set up a mouth watering encounter against another local rival, Ballintubber.
This Saturday's game between the two west Mayo heavy weights sees Ballintubber aiming to collect their second title at this grade in two years and the Mitchels look to claim a minor A and u21 A double for 2009. With both sides knowing each other so well having played against each other so often down through the years , a real nail biter would seem to be in store.
The venue on Sunday is Mayo Abbey and the close confines of Mayo Gaels’ home will see a number of interesting battles on which the contest will turn. Last weekend Mitchels won through thanks to a number of impressive performances from players in key areas, Danny Kirby and Ger McDonagh got to grips with a fine midfield performance, while Tom King was inspirational at wing forward, and Ballintubber will have to pay very close attention to him if they are going to win. Also impressing was Donal Newcombe who chipped in with two points from defence, and Eoin O'Reilly, whose strong running in the first half from centre half back caused Breaffy all kinds of problems. And even with all those players showing very well, the Mitchels have plenty more to call on, minor captain from this year Aidan Walsh, along with the likes of Neil Douglas and Ger O'Boyle, will also have given the Ballintubber management team of Sean Hallinan and Pat Lally plenty to think about this week.
But Ballintubber themselves have strength and depth, with a number of players capable of putting in the performance that could win the game. Cillian O'Connor showed for the Mayo minors this year plenty of attacking instinct to scare any defence, while Ray Geraghty will relish the chance of running at the Mitchels defence. In midfield Danny Geraghty will be a handful for both McDonagh and Kirby to contain while Michael Nestor is a strong defender and will be a tough leader in the full back line with Michael Nestor leading the defensive line further out. While both sides will leave it all on the field on Sunday in this west Mayo epic, it's only a pity that the competition took so long to come to a conclusion and the pubic were denied a chance to see these two sides go at it when weather conditions would have led to what you would expect to be a more flowing game of football.
Still one spot left up for grabs in B final
There is still one spot left up for grabs in the u21 B championship final with Ballaghaderreen and the Neale meeting in their semi-final on Sunday, with St Gerald’s waiting for the winners in the final. Last weekend the south Mayo club saw off the challenge of Achill by 3-8 to 1-3 in the fog in Castlebar. Ian Costello was the star of the show scoring 1-3 and Darren Coen showed good form also chipping in with 0-3 over the 60 minutes.
