Fresh Salt in the wound for struggling Mayo
Mayo line up to face Salthill Devon. From left, Noe Baba, Darragh Forde, Ben Edeh, Aran Boyle, Gary Armstrong, James McGrath, Daire O’Connor, Óisin O’Reilly, Guga Kolaia, Seán McAteer and Connor McCarthy. Picture: John Corless
Mayo were beaten by a clinical Salthill Devon side in the National league, in perfect condition in the Galway suburb, on Saturday afternoon. Mayo’s lack of a cutting edge was decisive, and they were plagued, yet again, by defensive errors.
The sides were evenly matched in the first half and would have gone in level, were it not for a Timmy Molloy penalty five minutes before the break, after Mayo defender, Daire O’Connor fouled the lively Ronan Kerin in the box.
The penalty was a soft one. Kerin was already on his way to ground when O’Connor touched his back, making it an easy decision for referee Ray Conlon. O’Connor is learning his trade at this level, and Saturday’s lesson is that you can’t be too careful in the box. Molloy took his penalty well, and Mayo were chasing the game from that point onwards.
Mayo might have gone ahead on 23 when Ben Edeh crossed but Darragh Forde just couldn’t connect, and Edeh and Connor McCarthy had scraps of chances, which amounted to nothing.
Kerin had a few goes for Salthill in the opening half and Jacob Carroll went down in the box in an earlier a clash with O’Connor, but the referee waved away the penalty claims.
Salthill upped it in the second half and pressed Mayo throughout. Kerin threatened with a shot pushed over the bar by the Mayo goalkeeper, Arran Boyle five minutes after the restart, and a few minutes later, a Ben McDonnell shot ricocheted off the inside of the post.
At the other end, an Edeh cross was just out of the reach of McCarthy, and James McGraths sent a free kick the wrong side of the post. And then, Salthill added a second on 68 minutes when substitute Cole Connolly headed in at the back post, seconds after joining the action. That second goal killed off Mayo and they never threatened afterwards.
McDonnell sent one over for Salthill, and Diala Princewill should have done better with an effort soon after he had joined the battle.
Mayo have struggled in both boxes in this league. Manager Anthony O’Neill favours three at the back with Gary Armstrong sitting in front, as a number six, with wing backs. Armstrong has been excellent throughout, but the three-man backline has left openings which opponents have exploited.
Up top, Mayo often look laboured. On Saturday Darragh Forde pushed up in the first half and was unlucky not to get something as Mayo played the ball forward. In the second half Mayo often went back or lateral and looked limited in attack. O’Neill made two changes to the starting line-up from the previous week’s defeat to TU Dublin, with Óisin O’Reilly back in the defence and Arran Boyle starting in goal, as he rotates with Matthew Fox. O’Neill introduced Aron Heaney, Aiden Coyle and Aiden Dunleavy from the bench, but they couldn’t break down the Salthill defence.
“It’s obviously our third defeat in a row,” Mayo FC manager told the Western People after the game, “so we’re hurting in there in the dressing room now.” O’Neill felt Mayo had played some good football in the opening half and that there had been little between the teams before Salthill were awarded the penalty.
“Unfortunately, that’s just the way the cookie is crumbling at the moment, for us. We’re just coming out on the wrong side of a couple of mistakes and individual errors. We spoke at half-time about coming out and showing character and getting after the game and moving the ball quicker, which I thought we did. I thought we started the second half really, really well and worked ourselves into some good positions in the attacking third.” The Mayo manager believes decision-making in the final third remains an area his side need to improve.
“Our final pass, our crossing and certainly our finishing in previous weeks is letting us down. We just need to keep working through that and keep working on it. We’re getting into good areas. We have a lot of the ball in every game we play, which is not a bad foundation to build on. It’s just adding to that now and being more creative and finishing chances when we get them.”
Prior to kick off, a minute’s silence was impeccably observed in memory of former Salthill player, Dermot Begley.
Salthill Devon: Seán Begley; Al-Amin Obasa, Calym Crowe, Shane O’Rourke, Churchill Idemudia; Richard Lapointe Guevara (Diala Princewill 79), Timmy Molloy, Osakpator Omorodian (Cole Connoly 77); Ben McDonnell, Ronan Kerin (Dermot MacGiollarnath 85), Jacob Carroll.
Mayo: Aran Boyle; Daire O’Connor, Noe Baba, Óisin O’Reilly; Gary Armstrong, Seán McAteer, Darragh Forde, James McGrath (Aiden Coyle 60), Guga Kokaia (Aron Heaney 75); Connor McCarthy, Ben Edeh (Aiden Dunleavy 80).
REF: Ray Conlon (Athlone)
