Mayo down 14-man Dubs as Beirne hits net again
Mayo's David McBrien goes past Ethan Dunne of Dublin during Sunday's NFL Division 1 match in Castlebar. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
The jersey was retro but the newness about Mayo’s approach to football under Andy Moran continues unabated. A 1-18 to 2-09 victory over Dublin on Sunday afternoon has them sitting atop NFL Division One alongside Donegal, who they will visit next.
Factor in their sixteen other unconverted scoring attempts, three of which drew saves from Dublin goalkeeper Evan Comerford, and it’s fair to say that Mayo are prepared to have a cut at this season, in every sense of the word.
15,197 paid into MacHale Park for this untelevised game played in superb conditions for the first day of February – and the majority won’t have been too bothered that the quality of the fare was, for long stretches, quite poor. A victory over the Dubs always carries significance, no matter the circumstances.
The visitors had been reduced to fourteen players only four minutes into the second-half, with full-back Sean MacMahon caught striking Ryan O’Donoghue off the ball, but they were already three points behind at that stage.
Two pointers by O’Donoghue and David McBrien allied with a brace by late inclusion Fergal Boland had helped Mayo into a 0-10 to 1-5 half-time lead, with Dublin’s goal coming not much more than two minutes after throw-in when Jack Lundy picked out Luke Breathnach who hammered the ball into the roof of the home net.
Dublin boss Ger Brennan wasn’t convinced by what he was seeing from his team so had made three substitutions by the 31st minute but not even the introductions of Ciaran Kilkenny and Sean Bugler could stir much of a turn out of the Leinster men.
Cormac Costello did rifle a goal effort against the Mayo crossbar shortly after the interval but when Darragh Beirne fired home his second goal in two senior starts, in the 44th minute, the Green and Red were firmly in the driving seat.
Dublin did battle their way back to within three points by the 51st minute, with a two-pointer by Costello swiftly followed by an excellent Paddy Small goal, but Mayo steadied the ship through points by subs Diarmuid O’Connor and Cian McHale, before Jack Carney and Jordan Flynn added their first points of the day to secure a valuable two points for Moran’s men.
