Mayo grind out narrow win in low scoring game against defensive Tipperary

LIDL NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 2

Mayo 0-9

Tipperary 0-7

In Swinford

This match was an utter contrast from last weekend's free-flowing shoot-out win over Wexford when Mayo scored 5-14.

On this occasion, Mayo had to dig deep and be patient to break down a brilliantly-organised Tipperary defence.

"We showed a lot of maturity, just holding the ball and working it and not giving away silly stuff", Mayo forward Tara Needham told The Mayo News afterwards.

The Louisburgh woman continued to applaud her teammates' efforts: "The girls defended unbelievably in the first half, keeping them to two points in 30-odd minutes of football is really good. I was really happy with that."

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Needham herself showed good football in attack, scoring the point of the day, when she took on her opponent in the second half, one-on-one. She sidestepped the Tipperary defender with excellent footwork and curled the ball masterfully between the sticks from just inside the two-point arc.

Player-of-the-match was Mayo attacker Kayla Doherty. The MacHale Rovers ace was a force that was hard to contain. Doherty quickly scored Mayo's first two points when they badly needed them in the tenth and eleventh minutes. 

In total, Doherty proved her worth by contributing 0-4 in a game that was mostly dominated by fantastic defensive displays from both teams.

Midfielder Erin Murray also put in a massive shift in the engine room and showed what kind of a powerful warrior she is. 

Captain Ella Brennan got hit in the face in the first half, and had to be subbed off for a while to stop the bleeding but she returned later. 

Mayo were 0-4 to 0-2 in front at half-time and kicked it up a notch in the second period, helped by the arrival of Sinéad Cafferky from the substitute bench, who came on for Aoife Staunton.

"With Sinead's quality and being able to retain possession, complete passes and probably control things in the forward line, it was just great to have that opportunity to bring her in at that point," explained Mayo manager Diane O'Hora after the match.

The women in green and red put more pressure on Tipperary in the second half, winning turnover ball on numerous occasions.

However, they lacked the sort of killer instinct to kill the game off early enough. 

When Aoife Geraghty was at the end of fluent attacking move and clipped it over, Mayo were 0-9 to 0-5 up with ten minutes to go. The roar of the home crowd suggested more relief than excitement.

Tipperary weren't going to let go easily. They had a final goal chance with seconds to play, a mid-range free that Emma Morrissey tried to hammer home.

But Mayo had plenty of defenders on the goal line to block her effort. Seconds later the match was over and Mayo had ground out a narrow win.

"I can't say it was a great game to watch today," acknowledged O'Hora: "I wouldn't be able to say there was much entertainment for anyone watching it. 

"It was almost a frustrating kind of a game, where both teams set up very strong defensively. It was just necessary for us to play like that in terms of getting players behind the ball. Tipperary are a very, very sharp team. They have a lot of power up front. Our end product wasn't really that great today."

Diane O'Hora's team has two wins and one draw to show for after three rounds of the league campaign. Next up is Tyrone away in two weeks. 

A full match report will be carried in Tuesday's Mayo News.