Mayo leave Galway feeling the Beirne
Mayo’s Darragh Beirne. Picture: David Farrell Photography
A penalty from Tom Lydon and a stunning two-pointer by substitute Darragh Beirne late on secured Mayo a thrilling 2-18 to 3-13 win over Galway in the Dalata Connacht U20 Championship in Tuam this evening.
Galway had the upper hand in the opening quarter, hitting their first major on 14 minutes through Mikey Mulryan to lead 1-5 to 0-3. Mayo would strike back with 1-6 without reply, Lydon accounting for four points in the run and played his part in Josh Carey’s goal on 26 minutes.
The goalscorer turned into the villain, however on the stroke of half-time. A breach by the Kiltane man saw Mayo break the three up rule and Colm Costello thundered over a two-point free to cut Mayo’s lead to two, 1-9 to 1-7.
Niall Hurley made up for it just 12 seconds after the restart with a two of his own, followed by another two efforts from Lydon, but Galway struck back with 1-4, the goal coming from Colm Costello on 41 minutes and the Tribesmen found the net again with seven minutes to go through substitute Ryan O’Donnell.
A minute after O’Donnell’s major, Lydon netted his own from the penalty spot and Beirne’s howitzer with three minutes of normal time remaining secured a memorable win. Mayo will be back out next Wednesday against Leitrim at 6.15pm in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, where a win could send them into the Connacht final should other results go their way.
