Mayo improving as they count down to the Dubs

ONE GIANT LEAP Mayo's Alan Freeman collects possession, watched from below by Cork's Kevin Crowley. Pic: Sportsfile

Mayo improving as they count down to the Dubs


Overview
Edwin McGreal

MAYO’S form in games throughout this year’s National Football League has been patchy, just like their results. Two losses to start and then three wins on the bounce. Sunday’s match was a microcosm of that. They trailed by 0-5 to 0-0 after 12 minutes, then outscored Cork by 3-12 to 0-4 for the next 37 minutes before losing the final part of the game by 2-5 to 1-0.
Which spell of malaise will James Horan be more concerned with? While the slacking off near the end might impact on scoring difference, the evident complacency in Mayo’s play had much to do with holding a 12-point lead after 50 minutes.
Conceding five points at the start is more of a cause for alarm. It was fortunate that it was against a Cork side which had made eight changes to their team. A more settled outfit would have made more of such a good start.
As Mayo count down to their long-awaited rematch with the Dubs on Saturday week, we go through the individual performances of players on Sunday to see how each fared and also assess the kick-outs, a crucially important factor against the Dubs.

Player by player analysis
IN the full-back line, Mayo looked uncomfortable early on. With Ger Cafferkey dispatched to mark Colm O’Neill, it was Brian Hurley who looked a real handful and Brendan Harrison was struggling with him. Hurley kicked three super points in four minutes and the Mayo sideline moved quickly.
Ger Cafferkey was switched across and won the ball four times off Hurley for the rest of the game. The Corkman did score another 1-1 in the game, but his impact was greatly reduced.
Harrison, to his great credit, did not appear to be affected by his early troubles and went on to keep Colm O’Neill scoreless. Granted, the Cork inside forward is just back from a cruciate injury and may not have got great supply, but Harrison won three balls that came in his direction and also got forward to set up Jason Doherty’s first point.
Shane McHale was solid in the other corner. He intercepted or turned over ball on four occasions during the game and kept a good leash on Donncha O’Connor. He remains a live option for James Horan in defence.

Half-back line
LEE Keegan and Colm Boyle were very busy on Sunday with 39 plays between them. In between them Donal Vaughan had just nine plays, but he still did well on the dangerous Paul Kerrigan.
Uncharacteristically, Keegan turned over the ball twice in the first half, but his contribution was still of the very positive variety. He scored a point, won two breaks and played a crucial kick-pass in the lead up to Mayo’s fourth goal. He kick-passed the ball five times and hand-passed it 13 times.
Colm Boyle had his best game of the league thus far with a real livewire display. He went down injured twice, had to be taken off on one of those occasions with a blood injury, but being a ferociously competitive player, he got back on the field. On the ball 19 times, we counted eight key plays, including three breaks and four turnovers.
Donal Vaughan was quietly effective. He had one wide and another kick blocked but won one break and linked well with seven hand-passes. His only two kicks were shots at goal.

Midfield
LIKE the two wing-backs, Mayo’s starting midfield pair were on the ball a combined total of 39 times, not bad when you consider O’Shea was taken off on 48 minutes and Gibbons on 60.
The Ballintubber man did not appear to be too happy with being substituted last Sunday week in Mullingar, but he got what appeared a vote of confidence in the second half when Seamie O’Shea was introduced for his brother Aidan, and not Gibbons, as had been the case in the previous two games.
Perhaps that liberation at not being called ashore played a part in Gibbons’ goal five minutes later. It was a superb effort, very similar in approach and finish to his goal against Kildare in the league’s opening fixture. He picked up a knock shortly after and went off, but he had put in a fine shift by then. Gibbons does not turn over much ball and had just two negative plays on Sunday – one a foul for a Donncha O’Connor converted free and the other a kick-pass which failed to find its target.
His positive contributions were many in his total of 21 plays. He scored 1-1 and we have him marked for nine key plays. He won four kick-outs, broke a fifth to a Mayo colleague, won the throw in at the start of the first half and turned over Cork possession. His run of form is making him a real option to start at midfield come championship.
Aidan O’Shea had 18 plays, nine of which we classified as key ones. He won three kick-outs, broke another, won a hop ball, tipped the second half throw-in down to Keith Higgins, helped to turn over a ball in the second half, kicked a point and was fouled for a free which Cillian O’Connor converted. On the negative side, he gave away the ball twice, once with a shot which never reached the target and the other an ineffective kick-pass.

Half-forward line
KEVIN McLoughlin was Mayo’s busiest player with 25 plays across the 70 minutes. He kicked three points from play and pointed another free. In an outstanding first-half performance, he won the ball 14 times, won three kick-outs and kicked two points. In the second half he scored two points from play and while he did give away the ball three times, he won possession back on another occasion and played a smart eight-yard kick-pass for Cillian O’Connor’s goal. It was a range which would usually be a hand-pass but McLoughlin knew a hand-pass could be intercepted or might hang and see the chance go a-begging. His direct kick-pass kept Cork back and allowed O’Connor to easily take possession and find the net.
Keith Higgins was on the ball 11 times on Sunday. Lining out at centre half-forward, Higgins did not have his most influential game but was still quietly effective. He won ball for Mayo on two occasions but also turned it over twice. He was fouled for a converted free and hit the post with a crisp effort at goal. Beside him Jason Doherty ended up with the Midwest Radio man of the match awardo. We’d have given it to Kevin McLoughlin on the opposite wing  but Doherty was a handful for Cork.
Though he was only on the ball 13 times, the Burrishoole man was very effective when in possession. He scored 1-3 from play and the poise he showed to dispatch the goal was top class. On top of that, he won two breaks and a third loose ball. We’d criticise him for a wild late free from distance which was never on target, ignoring several viable runs being made by his team-mates, but his contribution was excellent overall.

Full-forward line
LOOKING from behind the old Albany end in the first half gave a decent view of the movement of the Mayo full-forward line. Truth be told, more ball was carried into the scoring zone than kicked to runners inside. That has been Mayo’s default setting in recent years, but the movement inside wasn’t always top notch to allow an alternative.
Mikie Sweeney showed best of the three inside; Alan Freeman tended to wait at full-forward where the high ball on top of him was giving Eoin Cadogan plenty of grief, while Cillian O’Connor often went out the field, leaving space inside.
Sweeney was on the ball 12 times on Sunday and his display was a mixed bag. He lost possession three times, kicked one effort wide and had another blocked, but he still produced some very good moments too. He won ball out in front five times, provided a gem of a pass for Alan Freeman’s first goal chance, did likewise off his left hand to set up Kevin McLoughlin for Cillian O’Connor’s goal and was a real lively presence. He’s certainly earned another look.
Alan Freeman was ever dangerous. On another day he could have scored 3-1 but left with 1-0. He had to work hard to create his first two goal chances so he deserves credit for that, even if the finishes were not brilliant. He was fouled for a converted free, the ball broke off him for Doherty’s goal, and he took his own goal superbly with a confidence that left few in doubt that he’s Mayo’s best full-forward.
Cillian O’Connor was the busiest of the inside forwards but not always close to goal. Like in Mullingar, the Ballintubber man went where he was needed and he was as much a creator as a finisher on Sunday. He pointed two frees, took his goal well and provided a fine pass to Alan Freeman for his goal. On top of this he won possession on five separate occasions but, against that, he lost possession once, had a shot blocked, kicked a sideline wide and a shot from play fell short, which Mikie Sweeney recycled well. He’s shown an ability to play inside and in the half-forward line. That adaptability will be a help and which of those roles he ends up playing is uncertain yet.

Subs
DAVID Drake was the busiest of the substitutes with 11 possessions, although he gave away possession on three occasions. Seamie O’Shea was on the ball seven times, winning possession three times but giving it away on three other occasions. Brian Gallagher was on the ball five times, Enda Varley just once, Darren Coen twice and Tom Parsons five times. Parsons was the liveliest of these four, winning possession on four occasions, twice from kick-outs.

Kick-outs
MAYO goalkeeper Rob Hennelly was on the ball six times in open play, quite a high figure. He gave away the ball with two kick-passes, whilst two more kick-passes found a team-mate, as did two hand-passes. He may feel he could have done better for Cork’s first goal, but could do nothing about Brian Hurley’s.
Across the hour, Mayo won 58 per cent of their own kick-outs. Every single one of Hennelly’s 12 first half kick-outs ended up with a fight for the breaking ball. Mayo edged it, winning seven to Cork’s five.
In the second half Mayo won eight of Hennelly’s kick-outs and Cork six. Crucially, though, when the ball went long to a contest, it was typically Cork who won it. Of the eight kick-outs Mayo won, six went either short or to a man in space – one 60-metre kick to Jason Gibbons running into space in front of the stand was exceptional.
However, the only time Mayo won contests off their own kick-outs in the second half was when Tom Parsons was fouled and Seamie O’Shea won a break. By contrast, Cork won five of these contests and another when Hennelly kicked over the sideline.
On Cork’s kick-outs, Mayo put Ken O’Halloran under huge pressure before half time. Mayo won seven out of 13 of Cork’s first half-kick outs, but Cork’s six wins only include two which went long. They kicked three short and one to a man in space. When it went long, Cork couldn’t live with Mayo on their own kick-outs.
The second half was a different story. Perhaps comfortable in the knowledge that they were in a good winning position, Mayo’s intensity on the Cork kick-outs was not as pronounced. This will certainly not please James Horan, who will require a 70-minute effort against Dublin in their approach to Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs. Cork won 75 per cent of their own kick-outs and did not need to go short nearly as often, with only one short and one to space. Of the contested efforts, Cork still won 70 per cent off their own kick-outs.
In last year’s All-Ireland final, Mayo pushed up on every Dublin kick-out early on and were very competitive on them. However, as the game went on, Cluxton was much more able to find runners in space such as wing back James McCarthy and midfielder Cian O’Sullivan. It will be interesting to see how Mayo approach Cluxton’s kick-outs on Saturday week. Pushing up on every kick-out is physically very demanding, as Mayo learned to their cost last September. Will they seek a more nuanced approach? We await with interest.