Caherlistrane blow Davitts away in Connacht IFC quarter-final

The contest had been billed as a potential close encounter between the two clubs, but Caherlistrane quickly dispelled that notion with an impressive start. Barry McCabe’s side hit the ground running, taking control early and establishing an advantage that Davitts struggled to overcome.

Caherlistrane were equally impressive at the opposite end of the field, restricting their opponents to just five points from play throughout the contest. Richard and Johnny McGrath, alongside Evan Cunningham, were outstanding in a well-organised defensive unit.

Stephen Lawless and Kevin Nally dictated proceedings around the middle third, while Caherlistrane also benefited from an excellent spread of scorers. Alan Morris, Shane Greaney, Ciaran Donnellan, Timmy Madden, Kian O’Donoghue and Conor Faulkner all made important contributions.

Niall Treacy battled hard for Davitts on a difficult evening, finishing with seven points of his side’s 1-11 tally, but the Mayo champions struggled to match the pace and physicality of their opponents.

Both clubs are situated close to the Galway-Mayo border, with Caherlistrane just eight minutes from Shrule, while Davitts, representing the parishes of Ballindine and Irishtown, are approximately seven minutes from Milltown.

Davitts booked their provincial place after overcoming Ballinrobe in the Mayo Intermediate Football Championship final, while Caherlistrane edged past An Spidéal to claim the Galway title.

McCabe’s side raced into a four-point lead by the eighth minute, with Richard McGrath opening the scoring before Shane Greaney converted two placed balls and county final man of the match Timmy Madden also got on the scoresheet.

Treacy, one of Davitts’ standout performers during their run to Mayo IFC honours, opened his side’s account from play on nine minutes. However, they found it difficult to cope with Caherlistrane’s intensity, particularly around the middle third.

Former Meath footballer Oisín O’Brien then produced an excellent pass to release Ciaran Donnellan, who made no mistake with a powerful finish into the roof of the net despite the best efforts of Davitts goalkeeper Ronan McNamara.

Donnellan picked up an injury in the process of scoring and was forced to leave the field. His replacement, Conor Faulkner, made an immediate impact, adding to the scoreboard alongside Greaney, Johnny McGrath and Alan Morris extended Caherlistrane’s advantage to 1-8 to 0-2 by the 19th minute.

The North Galway side continued to find openings in the Davitts defence and struck for a second goal shortly afterwards. Greaney and Faulkner were involved in the build-up before Morris finished superbly to the net, leaving Caherlistrane firmly in control at 2-8 to 0-2.

Mark Concannon’s side responded with a brief rally, as two Treacy frees and an orange flag from Jack Melvin reduced the deficit. Davitts began to push forward with greater urgency and, after Caherlistrane defender Shane Bohan denied them a clear goal-scoring opportunity and he was awarded a black card, Melvin made no mistake from the penalty spot.

Treacy added his fifth point of the half to leave Davitts trailing by 2-8 to 1-7 at the interval. The closing stages of the half were marked by growing tension between the sides, although matters were quickly settled as they headed for the dressing rooms.

Faulkner, Greaney and Madden helped restore Caherlistrane’s control during the opening seven minutes of the second half. Substitute Kian O’Donoghue then added another point to stretch the Division Three League champions’ advantage to seven, with the score reading 2-12 to 1-8 on 42 minutes.

Davitts managed just a point from Jack Ronayne during that spell, but Treacy responded with an excellent two-pointer before Cathal Corless added another point to reduce the gap to four. However, that was as close as the Mayo champions would get.

Goalkeeper Kieran McDonagh settled any lingering nerves with a superb two-point free, before Stephen Lawless and three further Greaney frees put the result beyond doubt. The victory sets Caherlistrane up for a Connacht semi-final meeting with Roscommon champions Éire Óg on November 21/22, with a Galway venue to be confirmed.

Remarkably, the North Galway club have now gone 14 games unbeaten across league and championship competitions. Having secured the Galway title, they will now turn their attention to provincial honours as they look to replicate their Connacht success of 2005.

CAHERLISTRANE: Kieran McDonagh (0-2, tpf); Sean Kyne, Shane Bohan, Evan Cunningham; Johnny McGrath (0-1), Richard McGrath (0-1), Cian Molloy; Stephen Lawless (0-1), Kevin Nally; Adam McGreal, Shane Greaney (0-7, 0-6 frees), Alan Morris (1-1); Oisin O’Brien, Ciaran Donnellan (1-0), Timmy Madden (0-2). SUBS: Conor Faulkner (0-2) for Donnellan (14, injury), Kian O’Donoghue (0-1) for McGreal (37), Shane O’Brien for Nally (51), Cormac Hanley for Molloy (60), Steven Greaney for Oisin O’Brien (60).

DAVITTS: Ronan McNamara; Tom Ronayne, Cathal Higgins, Brian Birmingham; Tom Waldron, Charlie Phillips, Cathal Corless (0-1); Cian Naughton, Fenton Kelly; Shane Treacy, Jack Ronayne (0-1), Jack Melvin (1-2, 1-0 pen, tpf); Ronan Kelly, Niall Treacy (0-7, 0-4 frees, tp), Ciaran Treacy. SUBS: Colm Boyle for Waldron (34), Liam Kearns for Ronan Kelly (41), Conor McDermott for Birmingham (48), Mark Birmingham for Jack Ronayne (51).

REFEREE: Barry Judge