Seán Rice
IN the circumstances, the performance was perhaps less worrying than the result. Their two-point loss to Donegal was Mayo’s third defeat of the campaign. They are still languishing at the bottom of the table … alongside Down. And right now relegation looms.
Theirs was no worse a display than against Dublin. But it was no better. Donegal, re-energised, had most of the muscle and cutting aggression, and while for Mayo fitness should not now be a drawback, Donegal seemed to have the edge there, too.
All through it was tight and exhilarating, a game that had swung in Mayo’s direction for most of the first half and seemed to have been secured when they led by three points almost midway through the second half.
A lapse in concentration eight minutes before the end of normal time cost them dearly, however. Like a hurricane, Donegal swept through the defence to present substitute Leo McLoone with the gift of ramming home the decisive goal.
And the manner of that score exposed the difference between the sides. Donegal attacked in packs, while Mayo’s forays were more of an individual nature.
In the attack that led to their goal, McLoone had the support of six or seven players, including their midfielders. And because Mayo did not have the support of their midfielders in defending that attack, the defence was suddenly overwhelmed.
There and then the game was lost.
But reproach for that slip is eased somewhat by the nature of Mayo’s performance in general. Against the strong running of the Donegal half-backs, you felt all along that survival was going to be difficult.
It took some sterling defensive work to hold out the incisive attacks of Ryan McHugh, Frank McGlynn, Eamon O’Doherty and Odhrán MacNiallais. And in sealing off their sections, Brendan Harrison, Ger Cafferkey, Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle and Shane Nally showed gritty determination.
Keith Higgins, listed at corner back, started in the forward line together with Kevin McLoughlin who replaced Jason Doherty. Michael Hall, who dropped back into the defence, replaced Mikey Sweeney, selected at corner forward.
In the while he was up front, Higgins with penetrative flair looked good and promising. Unfortunately, the Ballyhaunis man picked up what appeared to be a hamstring injury during the second quarter that may keep him out for some weeks.
The presence of Higgins seemed to have brought the best out of the Mayo attacking system in that first half. While the Donegal defence kept a wary eye on the new unlikely corner forward, Mayo defenders were figuring high in the scoring list, Harrison, Nally and Keegan all on the mark.
Without Higgins’ spirited thrusts, Mayo lost much of their power up front.
Aidan O’Shea did manage one point but he is seriously off his normal level of fitness. Having started at centre half-forward, the Breaffy man moved to full-forward after the break where he was less than effective ... even when high ball came his way.
Still, Mayo led for much of the first half, and at the break were ahead by 0-8 to 0-7. Even when Donegal brought on some of their big guns – the likes of McLoone, Anthony Thompson, even the ageless Christy Toye – Mayo were holding their own.
The changes were forced on them by the prospect that Mayo might just steal the game, having taken a three-point lead by the 43rd minute. A well-taken goal from a penalty by the nerveless Diarmuid O’Connor caused the Donegal jitters. They claimed the ball had been taken over the end line before the penalty was awarded.
In any case, O’Connor was in no way fazed when referee Barry Cassidy forced him to take the penalty a second time.
At midfield Jason Gibbons played reasonably well, but Tom Parsons was off colour, and the introduction of Seamus O’Shea near the end had a little more impact on the proceedings from the centre.
But to the defence go full marks, and particularly to Ger Cafferkey, whose effective shadowing of Patrick McBrearty and Michael Murphy in turn earns him my selection as Mayo’s best performer.
Fire in the soul will be needed in Clones
SO now Clones is the focus. Next Sunday Mayo take their wounded fighters to the northern venue for a game to which few supporters are journeying in confidence. At MacHale Park last March, Mayo had the easiest of victories over Monaghan, a margin of 13-points.
It was a degree above expectations, and it gave a false impression of the real gap dividing them. Before the first half ran out, the visitors were down to 14 players following an illegal tackle by Stephen Gollogly on Jason Doherty. And in the second half they lost Ryan Wiley for a similar offence on Mark Ronaldson.
In the visitors’ difficult circumstances Mayo made hay. All the evidence had pointed to an outcome not much brighter than a toss of a coin before the dismissals.
Monaghan came with fire in their bellies. They played it hard and uncompromising, and it was the vigilance of a linesman, not the referee, that led to Gollogly being sent to the line.
They haven’t lost any of that aggression, although the history of their confrontations with Mayo has not met with the success they would have liked.
Of their 13 league outings over a period of 36 years, Mayo have recorded nine wins. One was a draw. But Monaghan were not then what they are now. Under manager Malachy O’Rourke they have come up in the world, and are now in Ulster the one the rest of the province fear.
Five years ago at Inniskeen they had one point to spare over Mayo, their last of three victories in 36 meetings. But since winning the Ulster title three years ago – their first in 25 years – and having since added a second, they are now hob-knobbing with the top sides in the country ... and with ambition to match.
Hence their disappointment at last year’s result in Castlebar, and their determination to reverse that decision at Clones next Sunday.
Elegance, as I have said, is not their forte. In Conor Boyle, Ryan McAnespie and the Wileys they have backs that stand on no ceremony, a skilled duo in Darren Hughes and Neil McAdam at midfield, and forwards in Gollogly, Dermot Malone and the ever-accurate Conor McManus that rival the best in the country.
Their bubbling confidence has lifted them to flying victories over Roscommon and Down. And last Saturday evening they almost knocked Dublin off their perch at Croke Park. Victory next Sunday will likely secure their safety in the division.
But under-strength Mayo can thwart that progress. Staring into Division 2 football as they are ought to wring some fire from their souls. They have been close enough to Dublin and Donegal in recent games to take heart, and while the loss of Keith Higgins is a further setback to their hopes, they have enough experience garnered over the past five years to call on in these moments of crisis.
