Mayo merry as Kerry wilt under green and red pressure
Donnacha McHugh of Mayo in action against David Clifford of Kerry. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Mayo picked up their second win – and moved to three games unbeaten – with a very encouraging 0-21 to 1-16 win against Kerry, in Castlebar, on Saturday afternoon.
A superb first-half display had seen the hosts lead by seven points at half-time yet this was a game that looked in danger of slipping away from Mayo when Kerry moved two points ahead with 10 minutes left to play. However, a run of four points unanswered, including one by the game’s top scorer Ryan O’Donoghue, saw Kevin McStay’s side over the line, to leapfrog their opponents in the Division 1 standings.
Mayo had been dealt a blow with the loss from the match-day squad of Davitt Neary, their goal-scoring hero in Armagh a week before, but they tore into the first-half and between the fifth and 31st minutes, outscored Kerry, quite incredibly, by 0-11 to 0-1, to lead 0-12 to 0-3.
An excellent individual goal by Brian Ó Beaglaoich instilled some confidence into the Kingdom who, trailing 0-14 to 1-4 at the interval, reeled off the first four scores of the second-half, including a Dylan Geaney two pointer, to leave just two between the teams.
It took 14 minutes for Ryan O’Donoghue to open Mayo’s second-half account but two-point scores by Conor Geaney and David Clifford contributed to wind-assisted Kerry overtaking the home side on the scoreboard by the 57th minute.
When Colm Reape delayed his kick-out to gift Clifford a pointed free, that left Kerry 1-16 to 0-17 in front with 10 minutes left to play, but the visitors weren’t to score again in the face of impressive Mayo pressure.
At the other end, David McBrien, sub Fergal Boland, Ryan O’Donoghue, from a self-won free, and Mattie Ruane, his third from play, kicked the points that saw Mayo take a giant step towards top flight safety.
