Higgins finds faults despite one-sided nature of victory

Keith Higgins was delighted with a 10 points victory over Galway that booked Mayo’s place in the Connacht U20 final but knows further improvement is required if his side is to win the competition outright.

Galway, who are managed by former Ballintubber boss Kevin Johnson, did not take advantage of some poor play by Mayo at the back in the first-half while they were also wasteful in front of the posts when they had the wind behind them in the second.

Mayo, meanwhile, were ruthless in front of goal when they needed to be. Dylan Flynn’s goal in the second-half killed off Galway hopes but it was the two brilliant first-half goals by his Crossmolina clubmate Kobe McDonald that had everyone talking.

“I suppose it just shows the bit of class that he has and can pull out; taps down the kickout and just goes and the whole thing opens up,” said Keith Higgins afterwards, recalling McDonald’s stunning opener.

“Just the finish [for the first], I suppose it's probably similar to the one he got off Monaghan in the league and even the second one, you're wondering if he’s going to hand pass it across. Yeah, we're backing him all day for them ones.” 

Reflecting on the game as a whole, Keith Higgins offered: “I probably wasn't overly happy with the first-half, to be quite honest. I thought we were kind of very standoffish at times in that first-half, let Galway kind of control the ball.

“A few times we did push up and try and get turnovers, we got a few and got two-pointers off them so I wouldn't have been overly happy with it but look I suppose the boys stepped up in the second-half.

“Saying that, I think Galway kept that lead for us with some of their shooting to be quite honest, but I think for that second 15 in the second-half, once we kind of got a few balls, we got a score or two, really settled down, really kind of controlled the game from there.” 

Yet again, Mayo’s struggles at midfield came to the fore, with Keith Higgins not shying away from the issue. He pointed out that Galway won all of Mayo’s first six kickouts, be that cleanly or the breaking ball.

“I think I said it after one of the games, you know it's always a big topic of conversation. The kick-outs now, in this new game, you want to think there's a magic formula to it but sometimes it's just a bit of luck.

“We were in decent positions for some of the breaking balls that were just bouncing off everywhere bar we wanted them to bounce but again, you flipped that then once we got a bit of a stranglehold in the game in second-half.

“I think we had their kickout under a small bit of pressure at times as well and we got a few off it.

“The old saying is ‘possession is nine tenths of the law’. I think once we had it, we were fine.” 

A conundrum that may now face Higgins and Mayo senior manager Andy Moran is the availability of Kobe McDonald and Darragh Beirne, the latter also enjoying another fine outing last Wednesday, with the Claremorris man scoring six points, including a pair of two pointers.

The Connacht U20 final is scheduled for Wednesday, April 29, just three days after the Connacht SFC semi-final against Roscommon. Keith Higgins said that Mayo “can’t not have the two boys in contention” for the senior team’s match next Sunday but added that both McDonald and Beirne “will be available” for the U20s also.

“I think anyone would want them. That's the whole issue around the schedule of the competition. It's not easy in a condensed season. I don't know if it's all it’s cracked up to be, but that's an argument for another day.”