On St Patrick's Day two years ago, young Patrick Durcan was one of Castlebar Mitchels' better performers in their loss to a Diarmuid Connolly inspired St Vincent's at Croke Park.

Fresh from the minor ranks, Durcan scored two points from wing-back in an impressive notice of his talent. However, two things counted strongly against Castlebar in what was their second defeat in an All-Ireland final, having previously lost the 1994 final to Nemo Rangers.

One was the all but unstoppable magnificence of Connolly, who scored 2-5 from play and direcly set up another 2-4, therefore playing a fundamental role in 4-9 of St Vincent's final match winning tally of 4-12.

The second thing that counted against Castlebar was something that was more within their control. Just a few weeks after the black card had first been seen at playing grounds around the country, having come into full effect on January 1, 2014, one of Castlebar's talismen, Richie Feeney, received one just five minutes into the game.

The look of shock was apparent on Feeney's face when he realised that the card, handed out for a late tackle on Vincent's defender Kevin Bonnie, meant that he would have to be substituted after just five minutes in one of the biggest games of his career.

It had a destabilising effect, and while the Mayo champions held quite firm until early in the second half, ultimately the loss of Feeney, and the brilliance of Connolly, told in the end.

For Durcan, that final two years ago was a day that Castlebar didn't perform to their best. "Two years ago I don't think we performed to our full potential," he said ahead of Castlebar's latest date with destiny, Thursday's All-Ireland senior club football final against Ballyboden St Enda's.

"We thought we had a lot more in us. Thankfully, we've got the chance now this coming Paddy's Day, and we definitely need to up our performance," said Durcan.

"On a team basis, I don't think we performed. Our game management wasn't good. We were giving away a lot of unforced errors that hadn't previously happened for us to the level that it did in the final. That's disappointing, but we've had tough games now, particularly with Crossmaglen and Corofin, so we're definitely well tested now going into this final," he said.

Certainly, it's been a hard road back for the Mitchels. Relieved of their Mayo crown in the county final by Ballintubber in late 2014, they reclaimed the crown last October with victory in the county final over Breaffy.

Their route back to Croke Park has featured three major morale boosting victories over Clann na nGael (Roscommon), All-Ireland champions Corofin (Galway) and Crossmaglen (Armagh), and the nature of those wins over such hardened opposition has steeled Durcan and his teammates ahead of another All-Ireland final against Dublin champions, this time Ballyboden St Enda's.

The All-Ireland semi-final against Crossmaglen in Kingspan Breffni Park last month was a particularly hard fought affair, with Castlebar emerging from a tetchy encounter on a 0-13 to 0-12 scoreline. There were a few flare ups towards the end of that game, but Durcan, while acknowledging it was not always the prettiest of contests, looks back on the win with pride.

"We battled well and that was pleasing," said the young student. "A lot of people question Mayo teams and say they don't grind it out enough and things like that. I wouldn't be too focused on that but we have confidence that we can dig out results with Castlebar and that was really pleasing. It wasn't a good first 20 minutes but it was very pleasing to grind out a result.

"We knew going into the game who (Crossmaglen) were. They have won massive games and we respected them for that. But we did have confidence that we were going to beat them. It was a tough, tough game, which I expected it would be. We respected them but we certainly didn't fear them. It was pleasing that when the stakes were so high in the last 20 minutes that we came out on the right side of it."

It's that battling quality that Durcan hopes Castlebar can call upon this Sunday, and he quickly dismissed any suggestions of a 'Mayo' factor hurting his side at Croke Park on St Patrick's Day.

"When you're inside the circle, you're confident," he said.