Division 1
Mayo 2-14
Galway 0-12
Mike Finnerty
Tuam
WHO would have thought that the 124th meeting of these two great rivals would end up quite like this?
With fifteen minutes remaining at the famous old stadium last Sunday, Mayo led by twelve points and were home and dry. Galway players, meanwhile, were scattered all around the field, chasing shadows and gasping for breath. Beaten out of sight.
It was a remarkable outcome to a match that had been expected to go the distance; instead Mayo minds were drifting towards the arrival of Armagh on Sunday week next long before Galway reeled off four late unanswered points to take the really bad look off the final scoreline.
“Our performance was very good,” said James Horan afterwards. “We got a bit complacent in the second half – Galway came down and got a few points when we should have been driving on.”
Apart from the ease of Mayo’s victory, the game itself will be remembered for the contribution of debutant corner-forward Jason Doherty.
The talented Burrishoole attacker drilled in a goal in each half, and clipped over a neat point for good measure, on his way to a man of the match performance.
Both goals also came at critical times; the first arriving on 21 minutes after Doherty ran unopposed through the centre of the Galway defence before firing low and hard past Padraig Lally.
That score galvanised Mayo and propelled them into the lead for the first time. They never looked back, building on their half-time lead (1-7 to 0-7) during the third quarter to have the points in the bag by the hour mark.
A beleaguered and dispirited Galway were unable to live with Mayo’s pace, movement and sheer appetite for destruction in the second half.
Kevin McLoughlin, who turned in a very impressive display as a roaming wing-forward, epitomised Mayo’s work-ethic and eagerness. The versatile Knockmore man shot three points from play and linked play with authority.
Aidan Campbell’s attitude also caught the eye and he looked like he meant business right from the start, forcing Padraig Lally to tip a rasping shot over the bar during the opening half.
Mayo’s captain for the day, Andy Moran, was enthusiasm personified, as usual, and led by example while the sight of the Galway jerseys also seemed to bring out the best in Alan Dillon.
This quartet led the offensive charge that effectively won the game after the break as points from McLoughlin, Campbell (free) and Dillon (free) were followed by Doherty’s second goal on 49 minutes after a clever pass from Chris Barrett sent him through.
That score seemed to drain the life out of Galway and Mayo were rampant as Campbell (free) and McLoughlin tacked on further scores to leave the locals trailing by 0-7 to 2-13.
The game was over as any sort of a contest by that stage and Seán Armstrong, who had started the match promisingly, ended a 26 minute barren spell for Galway with a well-taken point in the 57th minute.
Mayo’s only score of the last quarter hour came from an Aidan O’Shea free moments later as the winners seemed to switch off all over the field.
The game resembled a training match in the closing stages as Galway pulled back a few ‘token’ scores from the industrious Cormac Bane (3) and Joe Bergin. However, there was no disguising their current malaise.
They had looked much more interested in the early stages and Mayo’s defence struggled to pin down their ‘runners’ as Danny Cummins and Sean Armstrong started brightly in a two-man full-forward line.
In fact, the visitors found themselves three points down after eleven minutes as Cormac Bane and Joe Bergin nailed points to give Mayo something to think about.
However, once Andy Moran and company got into the groove at the other end they quickly set about laying down markers. Galway looked in the mood to meet them head-on for most of the first half but Doherty’s goals changed everything.
Mayo
R Hennelly; C Barrett, A Feeney, T Cunniffe; R Feeney, G Cafferkey, J Burke; R McGarrity, J Kilcullen; A Campbell (0-3, 2fs), A Dillon (0-5, 4fs), K McLoughlin (0-3); A O'Shea (0-1, 1f), A Moran (0-1), J Doherty (2-1).
Subs used: C Hallinan for A Feeney; T Parsons for Kilcullen; P Gardiner for Burke; J Moran for Campbell; L Keegan for Cunniffe.
Galway
P Lally; A Burke, D Reilly, C Forde; K Brady, F Hanley, G O'Donnell; P Conroy, E Hoare; G Sice, C Bane (0-5, 2fs), J Bergin (0-3); S Armstrong (0-4, 2fs, ‘45), D Cummins, C Kenny.
Subs: Damien Reilly for David Reilly; E Concannon for Cummins; D Blake for Conroy; D Mullahy for Forde; N Coyne for Brady.
Referee: D Fahy (Longford)
