Next Sunday is senior county final day, where, for the third time in five years, Castlebar Mitchels will lock horns with Ballintubber in the decider at MacHale Park (throw-in 3.30pm).
Mitchels are the defending champions but the previous two times the teams met in the final it was Ballintubber who left MacHale Park with the Moclair Cup in their possession. This time around, the bookies can’t separate them, as Castlebar vie for their 29th county crown while the Tubbermen will be seeking to land the title for the third time.
Which of them will do it on Sunday? Time to vote.
Who'll win the county final?
- Ballintubber (70%, 187 Votes)
- Castlebar Mitchels (30%, 82 Votes)
Total Voters: 269
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After the routing of Knockmore in the semi-final it’s hard to look past Ballintubber.
Hmmm, I’m not sure – it will be an entirely different kettle of fish against that Mitchels defence Mayo McHale!
Wow I’m surprised at the poll!
I seem to recall it was very 50/50 here last year though and Breaffy took a fair beating in the final then
Like then I’m not fully sure if it’s more people wanting Ballintubber to win than actually thinking they can. Thought we’d see 60/40 to Castlebar at the very least
Remember Castlebar were All-Ireland finalists 7 months ago and already beat Tubber in this years Mayo Championship so they look to be the better value and look to have a fine all-round balanced starting 15.
Possible that too many people are judging the team’s on semi final appearance only, which can be dangerous.That is the only time I have seen them in the flesh in this year’s championship so have to go with the Tubber men BUT a Castlebar win would not surprise me one bit.
Ballintubber are a better footballing team. Castlebar are physically strong. The midfield battle will be crucial and it’s a Tough one to call but I think Ballintubber will shade it because their forwards are better.
No option here to go for a draw on Sunday WJ ? I’m still undecided on who will win this one. ‘Tubber hold the aces up front but Castlebar have plenty of quality defenders to neutralise… the midfield battle should also be fascinating!
It could be a draw but what to see tubber win castlebar are bit like kilkenny they have enough am I been unfair.
Tubber will win the midfield they have a strong pairing. If O has Connor breaks loose up front he has a few handy forwards around him. CBR need to be defensive and they need a big game for Ritchie and Barry
Anne-Marie as a Knockmore man myself albeit at a distance, we’re still hurting from that drubbing we got. After our surprise but fine win over Breaffy, we had great hopes of at least reaching the final, that was until those O’Connor boys got at us. I know Castlebar might be a bit ahead of us but Tubber look like a team on a mission. It should be a cracking final and hopefully we’ll unearth some new talent for the County team. Anyway my gut feeling is – Ballintubber by 2 points….
I am going for Ballintubber, Castlebar’s long season last year to catch up on them.
Ballintubber looking hungrier and more together.
Midfield will be crucial surely. It will be interesting to see if D. Kirby can put in decent back-to-back performances.
I’d expect Mitchels to really up it for this one! Although Ballintubber looked class in the Semi. Nevertheless, I’ll go for Mitchels by 2 points.
Never underestimate Castlebar in a county final.
Last year Castlebar bet Corofin,St Brigids away and Dr Crokes they were expected to get beaten in all those games and when they were expected to do well in the AI final it didn’t happen for them.
Now as the poll suggests many expect Castlebar to get beaten again so I think I’ll go for the defending champions to win by a point or two. I think too much has been taken out of the semi finals and I always feel it’s better to win a tight game going into a final.
Would like to see tubber and cillian win ESP after him getting Injuried last year.
Castlebar didn’t put Garrymore away in the last game, they should have won pulling up but played well only in patches. Yes they have some good defenders & might get the edge in midfield but the Tubber forwards have a lot of class. DOC has a lot of pace at Cf where it’s the wing backs who have the pace for cbar. If Dillon can keep those boys busy I fancy Tubber. I reckon Tubber will get at least 2 goals, not convinced Cbar can match in goal dept. Cunniffe v COC should be intriguing unless it’s Alan Feeney who could do okay but the man’s unmarkable, Cunniffe could limit the damage more. Cbar chose wrong matchup with D Connolly in last year’s AIF. Expect repeat. Tubber by 3 or 4 for me, hard to beat class, improving team.
Having seen both of the teams in action over the year I’d have to throw my lot in with castlebar. They’ll have the better of the midfield exchanges.If they set up similarly to ballintubber (i.e. 3 forwards up and the rest in defence) then I can only see one winner.knockmore were exceptionally naive in this department in the semi final. Also ballintubber played garrymore last Friday night and came out on top in a very close game by all accounts. Garrymore deserve more credit than they’re getting and I don’t see it as a negative that castlebar didn’t beat them by more in their semi final.
I’m expecting castlebar to win by a few points in a low scoring game where packed defences are the order of the day. But then again I could be wrong,wouldn’t be the first time!
Either way I do hope the winners can push forward into connacht and beyond.