Ladies ‘playing in fits and starts’

EYES WIDE SHUT Mayo’s Sinéad Cafferky takes on Kerry’s Siofra O’Shea. Pic: Sportsfile

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Michael Gallagher

TWO National League defeats in six days was not the start to the new season envisaged by the Mayo players or management, but that’s what the opening two rounds has delivered.
On Saturday afternoon in Bekan the green and red suffered an agonising one-point defeat to Kerry and afterwards, midfielder Sinead Cafferky told The Mayo News how frustrated the home side were.
“We’re very disappointed. We came here today determined to win and to come so close is tough.
“We had to improve on last week’s performance against Cork and we did that. We started slowly but improved as it went on and the second half was better. We need to start picking up points quickly,” the Kilmovee woman said as the players left the field.
A second defeat on the spin left Mayo at the wrong end of the league table and Cafferky didn’t mince her words about what was required.
“We need consistency because at the moment we’re playing in fits and starts,” she said.
“We’re good for ten minutes and then fade, before coming back again. It’s hard to expect to win games like that. We need to show consistency for a half and then 50 and 60 minutes.
“We’re determined to do that and will keep working at it, because there’s little time for mistakes in this league. It’s very competitive and there are no easy games. Every team can beat each other every day, so we need to start winning.
“Today our shot selection in the first half was poor. We weren’t working the ball around enough and had to rely on the frees for scores. That was similar to the first half of last week’s game when it took us a long time to get going, but the wind was tricky into that goal,” she added before saying despite the result, there were positives to be taken from Saturday’s game.
“In the second half we were much better on the ball and worked it around much better. Tara (Needham) was very busy. Sinead (Walsh) came in off the bench and made a big impact and Ciara (Needham) did the same.
“It’s great to see the depth in the squad and players coming in to make a difference and change the game.”
The Mayo women travel south to Waterford next weekend to take on the unbeaten homeside.
“We’re looking forward to next weekend already. It’s a long way to Waterford and they’re going very well. It will be a big challenge for us, but Division 1 is like that. We’ll be looking for a big performance down there.”