ALLIANZ NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE ROUND 3

Mayo 0-12

Tyrone 0-10

CASTLEBAR

IT was dull and drab at times but Mayo stuck at it in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park today and earned their first win of the league season. The fact that the crowd only found their voice in the last three minutes tells a story of a game that was turgid at times but that will matter little to Kevin McStay and his charges. Victory was needed and two late points delivered the win.

Neither side set the hearts racing at any stage and while Mayo were far from adventurous, they did enough to stay in contention and were well-positioned to drive for victory when the opportunities arose in the closing minutes.

A goal-line block from Eoin O'Donoghue was the inspiration behind the victory. The Belmullet man was on the line to block a goal-bound effort from Niall Morgan three minutes from the end. He then burst out and set in train a counter-attack which ended with Ryan O'Donoghue kicking Mayo in front from a free. Moments later, Fergal Boland put two between the teams and it was time for the home supporters to celebrate.

The first half was like the weather – drab, dull and featureless. There was little sign of football's bright new dawn as both sides seemed reluctant to take chances in attack. In truth, Tyrone were slightly more adventurous, delivering the odd direct ball to full-forward Mark Bradley who looked lively sporadically.

Scores were rare, but Frank Irwin, Davitt Neary and Cian McHale all raised white flags for the hosts in the opening 21 minutes while Morgan replied with one of his own for the wind-assisted guests.

As half-time approached, Conor Reid seemed very unfortunate to be flashed a black card for a coming together with Darren McCurry. The Moy Davitts attacker was often Mayo's most energetic forward and his temporary ejection caused confusion on the sideline. The new rules decree that when a team has a player sent off or sin-binned they only need to keep two of their players back when they're attacking and two of their players up when defending. The Tyrone coaching staff weren't happy with the situation.

The Ulster men finished the half strongly and when they produced the best move of the half for Eoin McElholm to kick a point in the 35^th minute, they went to the interval 0-5 to 0-4 clear.

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Mayo responded immediately after the resumption when Jordan Flynn landed a two-pointer, but they couldn't forge ahead and Tyrone regained the lead with Morgan and McCurry finding the range again.

In truth, the action on the pitch did little to excite the crowd. Both sides were poor in attack and lacked any real cutting edge. Hesitancy killed attacks at both ends and when an unmarked Morgan clipped over another point after 53 minutes the Ulster men were two clear, 0-9 to 0-7.

Substitutes Ryan O'Donoghue and Fergal Boland balanced the scores as the game swung into the final ten minutes before Frank Irwin landed the lead point as Aidan O'Shea arrived off the bench.

The game was still there for the taking by either side and when Cathal McShane leveled the scores again four minutes from the end, a draw looked likely.

However, the excitement was about to start. Morgan burst through the Mayo back division and shot for goal under pressure. Eoin O'Donoghue blocked it on the line and burst out with it. The home side raced forward for Darren McHale to kick a point only for referee Barry Cassidy to call play back for a Mayo free. Ryan O'Donoghue duly converted it to put the home side in front and a minute later Boland clipped over the insurance point to secure a precious win for the men in green and red.

MAYO

C Reape; E O'Donoghue, D McHugh, E Hession; S Coen, D McBrien, E McLaughlin; J Flynn (0-2, 1 2pt), M Ruane (0-1); C Reid, D McHale, D Neary (0-1); P Towey, F Irwin (0-3), C McHale (0-1f)

Subs used: R O'Donoghue (0-2f) for C McHale (ht), F Boland (0-2) for Towey (46), A O'Shea for Neary (53 blood sub), J Coyne for Coen (60), D Neary for O'Shea (64 blood sub reversal), A O'Shea for Reid (64), S Callinan for McLaughlin (68)

TYRONE

N Morgan (0-3, 1f); A Clarke, P Teague, N Devlin; R Brennan, M McKernan (0-1), C Daly; B Kennedy (0-1), L Gray; S O'Donnell, K McGeary, C Daly; D McCurry (0-2f), M Bradley (0-1), E McElholm (0-1)

Subs used; S O'Hare for Gray (ht), R Cassidy and M Donnelly for O'Donnell and McGeary (46), A Donaghy for Daly (60), C McShane (0-1f) for Cassidy ( 61 blood sub)

Referee: B Cassidy (Derry)

READ MORE: https://www.mayonews.ie/news/gaa/1728325/former-mayo-star-says-championship-success-is-all-that-matters.html