Donegal deliver a rude awakening to Mayo
Gerard Gilmore, who scored 0-8 for Donegal, and Eoghan Collins collide during last Saturday's Nicky Rackard Cup clash in Letterkenny. Picture courtesy of Mayo GAA
When your goalkeeper ends up as your top scorer, it’s easy to identify where the problems were in this one.
But not only was Bobby Douglas Mayo’s most prolific, he was their outright best player on a day where many of his outfield teammates, particularly those in the forward line, never got going as the Green and Red fell to a disappointing defeat to Donegal in Letterkenny last Saturday.
A concerning aspect for joint-managers Brian Finn and Ray Larkin was the lack of opportunities created from play, with not a single point coming from open play in the second-half.
Donegal played a league division higher than Mayo this year, in Division 2B, and it showed here, with Mayo perhaps gaining a false sense of security from their unbeaten run to the Division 3A title followed by a cakewalk victory over Monaghan in the opening round of this championship season.
Donegal’s scorer-in-chief Gerard Gilmore finished with 0-8, the same amount of points that Mayo’s front six got between them. The midfielder got his first inside 13 seconds, followed up by a free from Donegal goalkeeper Luke White and a point by Ruairi Campbell but Mayo were back level on six minutes through Eoin Delaney, Oisin Greally and Luke Connor.
Douglas, a free, restored parity after Gilmore edged Donegal ahead and the hosts were ahead once again on 22 minutes through Gilmore, a free, and Liam McKinney.
The wides began to creep up for the home team, however, and Mayo went ahead for the first time through three points on the spin. Liam Lavin and Cormac Phillips first brought the teams level for a third time before Shane Boland took advantage of a cheap ball given away in the Donegal half to put them ahead on 29 minutes.
Donegal were back on top again after a response by Oisin Grant and Gilmore left the minimum between them but Lavin pointed just before half-time to leave it 0-8 apiece.
A monster free from Douglas two minutes into the second-half put Mayo ahead for the second and, ultimately, final time. McKinney, Declan Coulter, a free, and Gilmore edged Donegal ahead only for two placed balls by Douglas (one free and one ’65) to level the match for a sixth time with ten minutes gone in the second-half.
But Mayo would score only three more points for the remainder of the half as Donegal took full control. Three unanswered points from Gilmore were followed by two from Conor Gartland and one from Ruairi Campbell to leave Mayo reeling. Cormac Phillips sought to bring a halt to the runaway train of Donegal with a pointed free before the hosts missed a golden chance to put the game to bed. Sean McVeigh won the ball inside the Mayo’s ’45 and a quick move involving Campbell and McVeigh left the goal at the latter’s mercy but the retreating wing-back John Heraty was on hand to clear.
The missed goal chance didn’t deter Donegal and McKinney fired over the bar seconds later. Boland and Lavin, both frees, were Mayo’s last scores in a limp second-half display while Donegal finished with a late flurry through White, a free, McKinney and Sean Ward.
Mayo are on the road again next Saturday when they play Louth in their third match of the Nicky Rackard Cup. The game at Dowdallshill throws in at 1pm.
