The contractor in charge of the maintenance of the McHale Park playing surface in Castlebar has played down criticism of the pitch.

Down star Marty Clarke described the surface as one of the worst he had ever played on in the wake of the recent Allianz National League game against Mayo, saying it was akin to playing football on St Kilda beach - a reference to his time in Australian Rules.

But Peter Killeen, of Killeen Sports Grounds, insists he is happy with the playing pitch at the Mayo county ground, particularly when taking recent weather into account.

Quoted in the Irish Examiner, he said, "I visited the ground last week and I was very happy with the pitch, especially considering that there were three matches played under lights there during January and early February, all in bad weather.

"Frost has also had an effect on the top layer of the pitch so, of course, there was some remedial work required. But, overall, I'm very happy with the surface. It's also been fertilised since last week so people won't know the pitch in a month's time." Tweet

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