Boyle not stressed about FBD setback

Of the Mayo team that started last summer’s Connacht SFC final against Galway, there were far more of them involved in last Friday night’s senior football challenge against Clare in Ballinrobe than there were in Sunday’s rematch with the Tribesmen in the FBD Connacht SFL final.

No need then – but we will anyway – to point out the irrelevance of the result when shaping an opinion on next weekend’s NFL Division 1 clash between the counties in Sallthill.

“It’ll be another big battle I’m sure,” was about the only prediction John Concannon was willing to make in the aftermath of Galway’s 2-12 to 1-14 victory.

“Every time we play our neighbours Mayo we want to win it,” the Galway selector also observed, a nod towards how the home side had scored two points in the final minute of stoppage time to dig out the narrowest of wins at Tuam Stadium.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a game of tiddlywinks, Galway and Mayo is always going to be a big battle and both teams would want to win it.

“We’re delighted to win the FBD, delighted to beat Mayo, but that’s one competition out of the way. We’re playing the league next Sunday against Mayo again so it’ll be another big battle I’m sure in Pearse Stadium.” 

A plethora of missed chances in the first-half saw the Green and Red trail by seven points at half-time, 2-6 to 0-5, yet with four minutes of normal time remaining, they had nudged into a one point lead, with Stephen Coen becoming their tenth different scorer. And yet it wouldn’t be enough.

“It was an exciting finish, a bit chaotic would be one way to describe the last 10 or 15 minutes. It was a proper Mayo-Galway finish to that game, it was anyone’s there at the end,” said Mayo selector Colm Boyle afterwards.

“We were five or six down coming down the stretch and the boys made a really good recovery. Stevie kicked us one in front and I think it was the couple of chances we had after that, to push it out to two and maybe that might have seen us home, but we missed them and left Galway in the game.” 

What followed those wides by Fergal Boland and Fenton Kelly was that in the deepest depths of stoppage time, Galway substitutes Liam Ó Conghaile and Rob Finnerty kicked a point apiece to secure the Tribesmen an eleventh FBD League title. Finnerty’s was from a 20-metre free awarded because of a three-up breach by the Mayo attack.

“It’s disappointing to lose it in that aspect,” admitted Boyle. “That’s a concentration thing as much as anything.

“Look, it can happen, it’s chaotic, but you can’t let it happen against you, that’s the key. You hear the word learnings all the time and that’s one thing you just cannot let happen. You can’t lose a game over that and it is disappointing that that’s the way it finished.

“At half-time, bar the scoreline, I thought we were actually quite good in a lot of aspects. I think we left eight or nine scorable chances behind us and that killed us on the scoreboard,” continued the four-time All-Star.

“Kuba [Callaghan] had an early goal chance that he maybe could have put across to Niall Hurley, we’ll have to have another look at it. If that goes in it gives you a bit more of a platform. There was a slight breeze so it would have given us a pep in our step.” 

In fact, Mayo’s opening two points, by Fenton Kelly and Darragh Joyce, in the first and fifth minutes, were their only scores from play until substitute Paul Towey opened the scoring in the second-half. In contrast, Galway had fired home 2-4 from play before half-time.

“I think we hit a bit of a lull in the [second] fifteen minutes, we struggled a bit at times on our own kickout and certainly we lost our shape, we were a bit scattered in our positioning,” offered Colm Boyle.

“You could see that for their first goal, they had two or three men free inside from our kickout. They’re all things you’d be disappointed in, but I think after we spoke about it at half-time we actually got to grips a lot better in that area. The second-half was definitely better in that regard.

“We came out and fought, had a bit of a period where Galway dominated and wrestled back with two or three scores in-a-row, and we struggled a bit from our own kickout at times, but once we got back on top we got a couple of scores up front and the energy in the last 10 or 15 minutes was brilliant from the team. We just didn’t do enough to see it out.” 

Of the team that lined out, only Stephen Coen and Jack Carney started last year’s championship defeat to Galway as well, with as many as eight of the Mayo starters having yet to make their National Football League debut. The experience they have gained then, over the course of the past weeks in the FBD League, has been invaluable, insists Colm Boyle.

“It’s been brilliant for us. It’s over 40 players who have played for us. To see boys here, playing in Tuam in front of a very good crowd, FBD final, that’s golden to us.

“We could play a challenge match behind closed doors with no one watching it but you just don’t get the exposure. So to see them in that environment was absolutely brilliant.” 

John Concannon sang a similar tune for Galway, expect they also had the Paddy Francis Dwyer Cup in the dressing-room.

“It’s great to win it. We started off the FBD with the same group of lads and their aim was to win every game. We had a panel of 55 at the start of the year and most of those lads got game time between challenges and the FBD.

“They wanted to win the FBD, they’ve got great experience playing in big games against quality players and today will bring them on and hopefully it will make a better squad for us for the months ahead.”