Juniors just come up short
Football Connacht Junior championship
First Round
Galway 0-10
Mayo 1-6
Mike Finnerty
Tuam Stadium
ALL concerned with Mayo football could have done with something to lift the mood after the trials and tribulations at Croke Park but the county juniors were unable to provide the panacea in the opening round of the Connacht championship on Wednesday evening.
To their credit they went down fighting, showing no shortage of pride in the jersey and gritty determination. Unfortunately, Galway had that little more poise and cohesion up front and Mairtín Seoighe from the Aran Islands emerged the hero with the winning point in the 61st minute.
In truth, the victory was no more than Galway deserved on the balance of play. It was obvious that Frank Roche’s team had more work done in advance of the game and Mayo’s lack of collective training and match practice mitigated against them for three-quarters of the match.
Playing in front of a small but extremely partisan crowd, Galway led by 0-6 to 0-2 at half-time and by 0-9 to 0-4 with fifteen minutes remaining. By that stage, Mayo hadn’t scored from play and were badly missing their injured trio of Conor Heneghan, Marcus Hannick and Ronan McNamara. It looked like the die had been cast.
Slowly but surely though the tide turned as captain Ollie Feeney, full-back Derek O’Dea, Dermot Costello, Tomás Morley, Francis Burke and Michael Conroy got their second wind and started to up the ante.
The comeback began when Paul Doherty (Mayo’s best forward who scored all but one point of the team’s tally) swung over a point from play and continued as goalkeeper, Fintan Ruddy, hammered over a ‘45.
Then, with five minutes to go, Mayo drew alongside their hosts for the first time when the perceptive Paul Doherty raced through the heart of the Galway defence and cracked a low shot to the net past Padraig Lally.
At that stage the smart money would have been on Mayo to book a place in the provincial semi-final against Roscommon, and Billy Fitzpatrick must have been thinking positive thoughts when Fintan Ruddy trotted up to kick another ‘45 in the dying minutes.
However, the former All-Ireland Cic Fada champion saw his powerful shot tail wide and extra-time seemed the most likely outcome.
Galway had other ideas though and after their brief period of hibernation they cobbled together a few late attacks. Ironically, it was the final play of the game that delivered the winner as substitute Mairtín Seoighe (who received a rousing reception from the crowd after coming on earlier in the half) popped up to shoot the decisive score.
For long periods it seemed highly unlikely that Galway would need a dramatic late intervention to see off Mayo’s honest, if limited, effort.
The winners dominated the first half and four points from Eoin Mac Giolla Phóil (three from frees), allied to scores from John Paul Steede and Cathal Coleman (free) eased them ahead.
Mayo’s only responses in that first half were a couple of Paul Doherty frees as they struggled to get their game going and saw moves break down all over the field.
The half-time break gave the visitors the chance to get organised and Billy Fitzpatrick, Michael John Mullin and James Mitchell undoubtedly reminded their team of their responsibilities.
A bright start yielded another couple of converted frees from the unflappable Paul Doherty and we wondered if Mayo were about to get going.
Instead, Galway raced downfield and tagged on three points without reply from Mac Giolla Phóil (free), Colman Hands and Barry Donnellan to open up some daylight again.
Thoughts were turning to the Champions League semi-final at that juncture but, as it turned out, Mayo were planning their late assault. However, fortune didn’t favour their brave efforts.
Galway
P Lally; E O’Sullivan, P Gleeson, K Kelly; C Hands, A Coen, J Burke; R O’Neill, R O’Flynn; P Seoighe, C Coleman (0-1, 1f), M Murphy; E Powell (0-4, 3fs), JP Steede (0-1), B Donnellan.
Subs used: T Joyce for Kelly; M Aspell for Seoighe; M Seoighe (0-1) for Steede.
Mayo
F Ruddy (0-1, ‘45); O Feeney, D O’Dea, A Noone; D Costello, C Boyle, D Prendergast; F Burke, T Morley; D Burke, D O’Connor, P Doherty (1-5, 4fs); J Rafter, K Glynn, M Conroy.
Subs used: J McAndrew for Glynn (inj); D Gallagher for O’Connor; L Lydon for Rafter; C English for Prendergast.
Referee: O Kelly (Roscommon)
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AUDIO Mike Finnertys reaction
