Familiar problems continue to haunt Mayo

After some questionable decisions in the final 10 minutes of the game by match referee David Gough, it is safe to say where the narrative was going at the conclusion of this Connacht final.

The calls were on both sides to be fair. Galway saw two potential goal chances pulled back, with Matthew Tierney first playing in Cein Darcy and then Sean Kelly taking a quick free with Damien Comer in acres of space for a run at goal. On both occasions Galway manager Padraic Joyce was literally hopping mad on the touchline.

On the flip side, Daniel O’Flaherty ran deep and past the 20 metre line where he was brought to ground. It was a debatable foul and an easy free converted by Shane Walsh. Tommy Conroy was penalised for a foul on John Maher when the ball was there to be won, which Conroy did, but which turned into another easy free for Rob Finnerty. Finally, Conor Loftus was double-teamed by Matthew Tierney and Paul Conroy on the ground but the Crossmolina man was deemed to have overcarried. Connor Gleeson took the free and the rest, as they say, is history.

How easy it could have been for Kevin McStay to blame David Gough for the loss. In a classy move, he did not and in truth, it was because he knew the bigger failings on the day were all of Mayo’s making.

Mayo had Galway beaten in every aspect of the game bar the one that mattered in the end and paid a price for not making more of their first-half dominance of possession. In that first-half, they struck five wides (and nine overall) compared to Galway hitting only two over the 70 plus minutes. The Green and Red’s lead really should have been greater than the 0-7 to 0-5 on the scoreboard at half-time.

The real concern was that Mayo never looked like breaching Connor Gleeson’s goal at any stage. Damien Comer, a deserved man-of-the-match pick, gave David McBrien his toughest outing to date, and was unlucky not to breach Colm Reape’s goal on two occasions, with the Knockmore custodian producing one brilliant save. Reape had received some stick over the league season but this was his finest day since last year’s National League final win over Galway and his form will be a big plus for Mayo in the All-Ireland group stages.

Another major positive was the performance of Matthew Ruane. He looked more the player that he was in Mayo’s run to the All-Ireland final in 2021 and if anyone looked like breaching the Galway backline, it was Ruane with his driving runs from the middle of the field.

It was in front of him that the problems were once again for Mayo. I may sound like a broken record but aside from Ryan O’Donoghue (and even he was a bit subdued), the Mayo attack was wasteful. McStay called the performance ‘patchy’ and it was a fair assessment. Tommy Conroy showed in flashes what he can do with a well-taken point in each half but is it perhaps time to put The Neale roadrunner in a centre-forward role and use that devastating pace to its full potential?

Fergal Boland got his customary score but not much else fell his way. Wing-forwards Jack Carney and Jordan Flynn struggled to have a major influence, and the latter cut a frustrated figure as he was withdrawn from the field.

Opinions on Aidan O’Shea and where he is best used will rumble on. He and Carney were the only two starting forwards that did not score for Mayo, and a wild shot that O’Shea took on 28 minutes summed up his efforts in front of goal. But his presence alone did cause Galway plenty of problems and it was not coincidental that Galway got a boost after he was withdrawn on 54 minutes.

Off the bench, only Cillian O’Connor scored for Mayo while for Galway, Shane Walsh struck three points. Yes, Walsh was brought on late in the first-half after his late omission from Galway’s starting 15, likewise John Maher, but Joyce deserves credit for acknowledging that the pair’s two replacements Kieran Molloy and Cathal Sweeney had never got up to speed and withdrew them quickly.

It will be interesting to see if Mayo make a few adjustments when Cavan come to Castlebar on the weekend after next. A season ending ACL injury to Paddy Lynch has left the Breffni men short on firepower and for all of Mayo’s attacking woes, there should be enough there to see them off.

But if familiar problems up front rear their ugly head again, Mayo’s journey in the All-Ireland series may be a brief one.