GOLDEN GOAL?Mayo full-forward Colin Dempsey scores a first half goal despite the efforts of the Galway goalkeeper Neil Walsh.?Pic: Sportsfile
Juniors back on top again
Goals prove vital as Mayo take title
Final
Mayo 2-12
Galway 0-10
Mike Finnerty
Roscommon
THEY may not have enjoyed the most tranquil and ideal of build-ups to this provincial final, but the Mayo Juniors still went and took care of business in some style at Dr Hyde Park last Sunday.
Behind-the-scenes wrangling over club league fixtures late last week wouldn’t have done anything for their mood beforehand, but they eventually got down to the task-at-hand and regained this title after a five year famine.
John Kelly’s highly-motivated and well-organised squad produced a strong, driving finish to reel off 1-7 in the last quarter to blitz Galway and leave them breathless.
It had been a much different story though in the opening half as Mayo failed to register a score in the first 21 minutes. In fact, for long spells in that first quarter it looked like their lack of competitive match practice was going to cost them dearly.
But the importance of goals in championship football was underlined emphatically as Colin Dempsey hit the net on 22 minutes to get Mayo back on track, and Aiden McTigue’s goal in the 46th minute was the beginning of the end for a Galway side that faded fast in the home straight.
In truth, the last ten minutes were little more than a training exercise for Mayo as they picked off a string of points at their leisure from Simon Cloherty, the impressive Alan Egan and Michael Walsh while Ronan McNamara thumped over a couple of frees for good measure.
At the other end, Galway managed just one point in the last twenty minutes as Mayo’s defence shut up shop with Liam O’Malley, Niall McCormack, Barry Leonard, Shane McDermott, Ollie Feeney and Michael Walsh repelling all invaders.
It had been a much different story in the first quarter as Galway hit the ground running and raced into a 0-4 to no score lead as Cathal Coleman slotted two frees, smacked over a huge point from play, and Eoin Joyce converted a place-kick too.
Mayo, in contrast, missed the target from all sides with a plethora of poor wides despite Ronan McNamara and Padraic McManamon winning more than their fair share of possession at midfield.
There were actually 21 minutes on the clock when centre-forward Alan Egan swung over Mayo’s opening score, but the game turned on their first goal less than sixty seconds later.
There seemed to be very little danger as Galway set about clearing their lines in the right corner but some over-elaboration allowed Colin Dempsey to nip in and steal back possession.
The full-forward drove on decisively for the crossbar and showed good composure to shoot low to the Galway net past Headford’s Neil Walsh to level the match for the first time.
It was a completely different type of game from there to the finish; Peadar Seoighe and Aiden McTigue traded scores to maintain the status quo before Enda McManamon finally found his range from a close-range free in the 30th minute.
That white flag meant Mayo led for the first time heading into the break (1-3 to 0-5).
Galway met the challenge head-on after the restart with a fine score from midfielder, Aidan Geraghty, sandwiched in between two frees from the unerring Cathal Coleman.
This scoring spurt in the opening nine minutes eased the Tribesmen into a 0-8 to 1-3 lead as Mayo took a little longer than they would have liked to get into their rhythm.
Alan Egan, an intelligent and purposeful half-forward, got the ball rolling with a well-taken score before Padraic McManamon’s persistence paid off with the equaliser.
The game was finely-balanced at this juncture and Galway sub Kevin Reilly traded scores with Aiden McTigue to illustrate that point at the end of the third quarter.
Then came the game’s second watershed moment as Ronan McNamara’s eye-catching piece of high-fielding sent a flowing Mayo move in motion that ended with Aiden McTigue sliding the ball into the Galway net.
Ahead by 2-6 to 0-9, Mayo never looked back and drove home their advantage impressively in the last quarter.
They will re-emerge in August for a shot at the UK champions in the All-Ireland semi-final in London.
Mayo
P Mannion; L O’Malley, N McCormack, B Leonard; S McDermott, O Feeney, M Walsh (0-1); R McNamara (0-3, 3fs), P McManamon (0-1); M Moran, A Egan (0-3), S Cloherty (0-1); E McManamon (0-1, 1f), C Dempsey (1-0), A McTigue (1-2).
Subs used: J Kelly for Moran; P Collins for E McManamon; S Kelly for McTigue.
Galway
N Walsh; E O’Sullivan, C O’Toole, C Ó Domhnaill; D Rattigan, C Leyden, D Reilly; A Geraghty (0-1), R Hughes; M Coady, JJ Greaney, P Seoighe (0-1); C Coleman (0-5, 4fs), N Meeneghan, E Joyce (0-2, 1f).
Subs used: D Kyne for O’Sullivan (inj); K Reilly (0-1) for Meeneghan; P Gleeson for Leyden; A Molloy for Joyce.
Referee: E O’Grady (Leitrim)
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