GOALS Laura Brennan has conceded seven goals in three games.
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Mike Finnerty
IT’S exactly 200 miles from Dungarvan to Enniscrone.
And Michael Moyles will probably have felt every single one of them on the journey home from Waterford last Sunday evening.
By his own admission, the Mayo manager has found it ‘frustrating’ to lose three games in a row in similar fashion.
Conceding goals, not scoring any, and ending up on the wrong side of tight margins.
It’s become a familiar pattern.
“We’re all aware what the situation is and we’re trying to fix it,” he told The Mayo News shortly after the defeat to Waterford.
“It’s the small little things, they were just a bit smarter. They were buying frees at times whereas we were probably a bit too honest. That’s something we have to learn, it’s about the dark arts sometimes.
“It’s disappointing because we’re there or thereabouts. We’re within striking distance all the time but we’re just not getting there, and conceding goals is making it a lot harder because you’re trying to make up six points every time you concede two goals.
“It was two goals the first day, three goals the last day, two goals today, that’s seven goals in three games. That’s seven goals in three games which is too much at inter-county level in Division 1.
“We’re working on it, we’ll get there, and we know the end-line is close but it’s just to get there as soon as possible.”
The obvious question is ‘why?’
Why have Mayo failed to score a single goal in more than three hours of football? And why has Laura Brennan ended up picking the ball out of the Mayo net seven times already?
“Every team is taking the Meath methodology of how to play, I think,” mused Moyles as he pondered the goalscoring drought.
“It’s not natural to us, as Mayo people we like to play an open brand of football.
“Up front, we’re meeting these blanket defences and we’re working on stretching them and trying to make inroads in behind. It’s just not happening in games as much as we’d like.
“Then in terms of conceding goals, I don’t know. Last week against Kerry it hit the post, the crosssbar and then went in.
“Today a long ball went in and it just was a fist that could have gone anywhere. Sometimes it’s just that bit of luck.
“Defensively, I think we have a very strong full-back line. The first goal, Clodagh [McManamon] was going backwards and just spilled the ball and they were in on goal.
“It’s very small little details that’s costing us goals and we are trying to clean that up.”
The early results may not have gone Mayo’s way, but there is no question of panic in their camp.
Michael Moyles is adamant that ‘we’ll be fine’.
“We’ve a great group of girls who are trying to learn all the time and progress. For us, the league was always about trying to learn about our panel.
“There were four or five girls that made their league debuts today and that’s great. But we need to build towards Galway in the Connacht championship and that’s what our aim is. “Obviously we want to survive in Division 1 so Meath in two weeks’ time will be another starting point.
“We were written off last year and we exceeded people’s expectations. It will be the same this year, we’ll be there.”
