Brilliant Leitrim stun Mayo

Andy Moran has masterminded a huge upset over his native county as Leitrim claimed a deserved 3-12 to 0-16 victory over Mayo this evening in Ballinamore.

Central to their success was Paul Honeyman, who kicked 0-10, while Barry McNulty, Ben Guckian, and Ben Guckian Mayo were 0-2 to 0-1 ahead inside eight minutes before Leitrim found the net. From the resulting kickout of Mayo’s second score by Tom O’Flaherty, the Green and Gold cut through the Mayo backline as Paul Honeyman played in Ben Guckian and he slid the ball under David Dolan into the net.

Honeyman, Leitrim’s chief dangerman, kicked 0-5 of Leitrim’s first half tally as they took a 1-6 to 0-8 lead into half-time Mayo bringing back to a point late on courtesy of a pair of brilliant points by Tom Lydon and one from Oisin Cronin.

Claremorris duo Darragh Beirne and Niall Hurley also pointed for Mayo in the first half, and the former drew them level shortly after the restart.

Disaster struck for Mayo on 35 minutes when a ball into Paul Moran was missed by David Dolan and the centre-forward tapped in into the empty net.

Three minutes later, a lovely ball over the Mayo defence left Darren Cox in acres of space. His palmed shot his the bar, but Jack Casey tapped in the rebound.

Frees from O’Flaherty and Beirne kept Mayo on Leitrim’s coattails but were countered by man of the match Honeyman as Leitrim raced on for a famous win.

Mayo will need a reaction in two weeks time in their final group game against defending champions Sligo in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.

Full report and reaction in Tuesday’s edition of the Western People.