Poor finish crowns truly miserable exit
Derry 2-13
Mayo 1-6
MIKE FINNERTY
WHEN Enda Muldoon chipped David Clarke for Derry’s second goal, three minutes from the end, a good old-fashioned rout had been completed at Celtic Park and an era of Mayo football had come to an end in emphatic fashion.
Whether it is the beginning of another chapter or merely a transition period remains to be seen but there is no doubt now that the winds of change will sweep through the Mayo squad over the coming months.
The final moments of this rain-soaked All-Ireland qualifier were among the most abject and disappointing in recent Mayo football history; Derry playing keep-ball and running down the clock as Mayo battled in vain to find a way through an imperious home defence.
Consider these statistics if you will; Mayo failed to score in the first fifteen minutes and managed just one point in the final half an hour. Just one point in 45 minutes for all their effort and perspiration as Derry’s defence closed ranks and kept them at bay relentlessly.
It was a day when Mayo’s limitations were cruelly exposed. The absence of Keith Higgins, Ronan McGarrity, Ciaran McDonald and Alan Dillon (substituted after a recurrence of a back injury at half-time) left the team short of vital experience and craft. Unfortunately, this squad are not yet ready to compete at this level without them.
And yet after 39 minutes Mayo had been on level terms after sub’ Aidan Kilcoyne and Pierce Hanley burst through to chip inspirational scores. We assumed that John O’Mahony’s words would inspire his team to greater heights after a tepid first half. Instead, Derry kicked for home and Mayo didn’t have the legs to stay with them.
Paddy Crozier’s team rattled off 2-5 from there to the end and held their visitors to just 0-1. It was as comprehensive as it was clinical and Mayo were buried in the avalanche.
Colin Devlin’s goal turned the match in the 48th minute, the corner-forward outjumping David Clarke to flick James Conway’s pass to an empty net, and Mayo were left chasing shadows from there to the finish.
Andy Moran did respond with a point in the 54th minute but, incredibly, it was to be their final score. Paddy Bradley fired over four points (three from play) and Raymond Wilkinson added another to propel Derry seven clear before Muldoon finished an eight-pass move with an exquisite finish over the stranded David Clarke.
Around the middle, Fergal Doherty, James Conway and Enda Muldoon were too strong and resourceful for David Brady, Pat Harte and company while Doherty’s abrasive style and mobility proved a useful piece of artillery for the winners at the breakdown.
Derry were at their most ruthless from the first whistle, taking the initiative in defence, assuming command at midfield, and always looking likely to cut loose in front of goal. In fact, were it not for sterling and honest performances from Trevor Howley, Trevor Mortimer, David Heaney and Barry Moran, then the final margin would have been more pronounced.
Moran was the team’s only realistic outlet up front for scores and it was his cleverly-taken goal in the fifteenth minute that hauled Mayo back into the game at a time when they looked to be drifting indefinitely.
With the rain teeming down, Derry clipped four points in quick succession from Conleth Gilligan, Barry McGoldrick, James Conway and Paddy Bradley (free) to race into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead.
The signs looked extremely ominous for Mayo at this juncture as Bradley was benefitting from Derry’s midfield dominance and Derry’s match-ups in defence seemed to be working perfectly. In fact, Conor Mortimer and Andy Moran were locked down all afternoon by the outstanding duo of Michael McGoldrick and Sean Marty Lockhart.
With little in the way of creative freedom, it took a moment of good fortune to get Mayo back into contention; David Heaney’s long, spiralling delivery cannoning off the chest of Derry ‘keeper, Barry Gillis, and into the path of the oncoming Barry Moran. The full-forward did well to keep his balance and steered the loose ball to the net.
Two minutes later and Conor Mortimer chipped over a free from close range to level the match but by the break Derry were back in front (0-8 to 1-3) and deservedly so. They outscored Mayo in the second quarter by 0-4 to 0-2 with only two fine efforts from the extremely-effective Barry Moran keeping the scoreboard ticking over for the visitors.
The effort and work-rate of the team had improved dramatically but there was precious little in the way of an end product. Derry, on the other hand, knitted together a series of intricate attacks and a couple of frees from Conleth Gilligan, allied to points from Colin Devlin and Enda Muldoon, had them two up at the break.
