Finn focused on positives as newcomers find their feet
Conor Murray of Mayo has his path blocked by Armagh’s Sean Og McGuinness during Sunday's NHL Division 3A game at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar.. Picture: David Farrell Photography
Mayo joint-manager Brian Finn believes there is plenty more in the tank of his team but was happy nonetheless to see a win on home soil in their National Hurling League opener.
It appeared at one stage that Mayo’s high count (seventeen in total) could prove costly but a goal from Adrian Phillips late in the second-half of Sunday’s Division 3A encounter saw Armagh off in the end.
“We're delighted. Nice to win the first one and nice to win the home game. It’s good for the lads and it gives a good feeling in the camp and lifts the morale a bit,” Finn told the .
“We felt we had done reasonably well (in the first-half). Even though we had the breeze we didn't threaten a goal, which we probably weren't happy about. The penalty was unfortunate timing, it was ideal for them coming into half-time. It was just one of them things for us, it was a foul, it was a penalty and Bobby could do nothing about it. The other goal, we didn't set up right for it and it was against the run of play but it gave them a bit of a lift and gave us a bit of a kick in the butt.”
Finn added: “We weren’t writing the game off but we knew we had to make a few changes and we had to change the way we were playing. We were coming out into a strong breeze and we had to work it through the lines, keep possession and try to get the scores.”
One of those subs was Moytura’s Joseph Burke, who came on in place of his club-mate John Heraty. His driving run set up the goal for Phillips and Finn praised Bruke’s impact off the bench as well as the team adapting to a more defensive approach that prevented Armagh scoring from open play in the second-half.
“Joe has very powerful running. He's very, very strong on the ball, very athletic to carry it, so that was behind his introduction and it worked out today. He carried a great ball through and gave it off to Philly for a great goal and that did change it.
“We set up a bit more defensive. We kept them to scores from frees in the second-half which made a difference as well, as they didn't score from play. It was a tough game in tough conditions but great for our lads. Some of them lads, that's their first taste of real intercounty hurling so it's brilliant. We're delighted for them.”
Up next is a trip next Sunday to Castleblaney to take on Monaghan, who will be looking for their first points after a defeat away to Louth. Brian Finn is hoping Mayo can improve on their conversion rate as they look to make it two wins from two.
“We had a lot of wides. Some of them were unforced and some of them were just with the breeze, just tailing off at the last minute. It's definitely something to work on. For Monaghan, we’ll be positive again. We're going looking for the win. We target every game to win it and see where it takes us.”
