Offaly 2-12
Mayo 0-15
Daniel Carey
Ballintubber
JAMES Horan will finalise his squad for the Connacht Senior Football Championship tonight (Tuesday) – but the Mayo manager was far from happy with how the team performed in last Saturday’s challenge match against Offaly.
“It was a terrible performance,” he said bluntly in the wake of the final competitive run-out before the trip to Ruislip to play London. “Probably one of the worst, I’d say. Everything seemed to go wrong, but everything goes wrong when your work-rate isn’t hard enough. Fellas’ attitudes today weren’t what they should have been, even for a challenge match. But we’re two weeks away from championship, so we’d be very disappointed with how the game went.”
Another concern for the Ballintubber man on his return to his home patch was the number of players who picked up injuries. Neil Douglas, playing his first game for nine weeks as a half-time substitute, was withdrawn with a hamstring strain. Seamus O’Shea has done damage to the AC joint in his shoulder, though an x-ray on Saturday night revealed no break. He’s due to be assessed for ligament damage early this week. Robert Hennelly also went off injured at half time following a collision early in the game, but was fit to play in Breaffy’s meeting with Claremorris on Sunday.
Horan expects the championship panel to be “locked down” by Tuesday night, having made “a few decisions” about who to cut on Saturday evening. Reflecting on a “disappointing” display, the former All Star added: “In every game we’ve played, we’ve had ups and downs ... so there’s an inconsistency in there that we’re trying to address … we just have to keep at it, try and fix it, and make sure we’re right for the championship game.”
Though it represented a last chance to impress for those on the fringes of the squad, much of what was served up at the picturesque venue was poor. An injury-time goal from Offaly substitute John Reynolds confirmed victory for the visitors, who play Wexford in their opening championship game on Saturday week.
Mayo – lining out without goal machine Jason Doherty and Andy Moran – led at half time by 0-8 to 0-5. Aidan Campbell contributed half their tally in the opening period, with three of those four points coming from frees. Alan Dillon chipped in with two straightforward frees, while Alan Freeman – living off scraps – also contributed a brace. Ciaran McManus, Bernard Allen and Niall McNamee chalked up scores for an Offaly side who led 5-3 after 27 minutes, before a purple patch put Mayo in front with something to spare at the break.
The hard-working Aidan O’Shea had the home side’s only goal chance of the first half, but was put off his stride after weaving left and then right. Hennelly made a good early save from Offaly corner back Seán Pender – who was promptly ordered back to his post.
Six half-time substitutions included the introduction in the half-back line of Trevor Mortimer for his first appearance in a county jersey since last summer. Aidan O’Shea reverted from centre forward to midfield, but Offaly made all the early running, and four points in the opening six minutes of the second half left them in front. Chris Barrett finally stopped the rot with a nice dinky point, but Brian Connor’s goal – a good finish met with deathly silence in the 47th minute – gave Offaly a cushion which they never relinquished.
Four of Mayo’s second-half points came from Alan Dillon, three of them frees. The captain also had a goal chance, firing against the post after being set up by Campbell. Subs Peadar Gardiner and Kevin McLoughlin chipped in with scores – both of them one-twos, after linking with Alan Freeman and Enda Varley respectively. But the tally which Mayo shipped will be a source of concern to the manager, as will Mayo’s struggle to make first-half possession count.
“We are working hard,” Horan concluded. “That didn’t come across today, but we are working hard. I couldn’t criticise what the guys are doing, but we just have to bring that onto the field … for the full game.”
Offaly
A Mulhall; B Darby, S Brady, S Pender; S Lonergan, R Brady, K Slattery; R Dalton, N Smith (0-1); B Connor (1-1), C McManus (0-2, 2f), A Sullivan; B Allen (0-3, 1f), N Dunne (0-1, 1f), N McNamee (0-2).
Subs used: J Reynolds (1-0) for McManus; J Coughlan for Allen; T Deehan (0-1, 1f) for McNamee; B Kelly for Sullivan; N Darby for B Darby; J Keane for K Slattery; J Quinn for S Pender; D Murphy (0-1, 1f) for Lonergan; S Ryan for Connor; S Lonergan for Brady.
Mayo
R Hennelly; R Rochford, G Cafferkey, C Hallinan; C Barrett (0-1), T Cunniffe, D Vaughan; J Kilcullen, J Gibbons; A Campbell (0-4, 3f), A O’Shea, A Dillon (0-6, 5f); T Howley, A Freeman (0-2), E Varley.
Subs: D Clarke for R Hennelly; N Douglas for Varley; D Geraghty for Rochford; K McLoughlin (0-1) for Kilcullen; T Mortimer for Vaughan; K Dolan for Howley; P Gardiner (0-1) for Barrett; E Varley for Douglas (inj); S O’Shea for Gibbons; E Reilly for Cafferkey; A Feeney for S O’Shea (inj).
Referee: S O’Hehir (Galway)
