Mayo ready for knock-out showdown with Rossies
Mayo’s Oisin Greally and Armagh’s Liam O’Flaherty focus on the sliothar during the Nicky Rackard Cup fourth-round tie at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar, last Saturday. Pictures: David Farrell Photography
With fifteen different names among the scorers, including eleven of the starting team, and a 22-point gap between them and Armagh at full-time, it was an unrelenting performance from the Mayo hurlers on Saturday in MacHale Park.
They had the small ball in the net twice within the opening five minutes and the runaway Mayo train never slowed down. By half-time it was 3-12 to 0-7 and in the second-half, Mayo tacked on an additional 1-17, a point more than what Armagh managed for the whole game.
Liam Lavin was arguably the standout from a very impressive Mayo front six. He scored six points from play and set up Mayo’s fourth goal of the game which was scored by Cormac Phillips, who tallied 1-5 for the day.
Alex O’Boyle was Armagh’s chief threat from frees and he fired over the game’s opening point inside the first sixty seconds. Mayo responded with a goal. Conal Hession got the final pass and found Moytura’s John Heraty, who buried his chance. Armagh struck two quickfire points to level things through O’Boyle and Connor Renaghan and once more, the Mayo response came in goal-form, this time Sean Regan was the provider. Shane Boland and Adrian Phillips followed up with a free and a point.
Armagh spurned a big chance to put themselves back to within three points. O’Boyle had just scored his third free of the day when he turned his marker on a sixpence and smacked a shot towards goal that flew just wide of the post.
From here, things began to look ominous for Armagh as Eoin Delaney and Sean Regan both fired over. Reneghan got one back to keep the gap at six but Mayo would seize further control of proceedings up to half-time.
Liam Lavin came to the forefront of the Mayo attack, hitting four superb points from play. Cormac Phillips added another and so did Shane Boland from a free. A brilliant move involving Boland and Delaney ended with Boland finishing off the move by deftly placing the ball into the net. A Phillips free before half-time brought an end to a superb half for Mayo. Two O’Boyle frees was all Armagh could muster in the second quarter.
Armagh once more got the half’s opening score, this time through Fionntán Donnelly but it was the falsest of dawns. Conal Hession fired back immediately and by the second minute of the second-half, Mayo had their fourth goal, this time finished off by Cormac Phillips after Lavin set him up.
Ciarán Duffy responded for Armagh but Mayo took the next six points without reply. Lavin, Sean Kenny, Eoghan Collins, goalkeeper Bobby Douglas, from a free, and Cormac Phillips all scored within this period of play. Phillips rounded it off with a quickfire double, popping over a free, laying claim to the resulting puck-out and firing it straight back over the bar.
Sean Kenny fired over in response to another O’Boyle free and Armagh soon had their consolation goal with Ciarán Duffy the scorer. They added a few more scores before the bitter end; O’Boyle got two from play and another free to bring his tally to 0-9 for the afternoon. Tomás Galvin and subs Peadar McBride and Kane Laverty added to the Armagh total.
Mayo continued to put away points en masse while they rang the changes off the bench up until the end of this game. Lavin soon had his sixth point of the day and substitutes Daniel Huane, who was making a welcome return from injury, and Kealan Gallagher added further scores. Sean Regan brought his tally to 1-2 with a point and there were also points for Kenny Feeney, Huane again, Douglas with another free and Brendan Sheridan before the full-time whistle.
With Roscommon on the losing end against Donegal elsewhere in the competition, Mayo’s next game against the Rossies is effectively a shootout to determine who gets another crack at Donegal in the Nicky Rackard Cup final in June. That match is due to be played at Dr Hyde Park next Saturday, May 18.
Scorers – Mayo: Cormac Phillips 1-5 (3f); Shane Boland 1-3 (2f); Liam Lavin 0-6; Sean Regan 1-2; John Heraty 1-0; Bobby Douglas (2f), Sean Kenny and Daniel Huane 0-2 each; Adrian Phillips, Eoin Delaney, Conal Hession, Eoghan Collins, Kealan Gallagher, Kenny Feeney and Brendan Sheridan 0-1 each.
Armagh: Alex O’Boyle (7f) 0-9; Ciarán Duffy 1-1; Conor Reneghan 0-2; Fionntán Donnelly, Tomás Galvin, Peader McBride and Kane Laverty 0-1 each.
Mayo: Bobby Douglas; Luke Connor, Oisin Greally, Conor Murray; Conal Hession, David Kenny (c), Eoghan Collins; Sean Kenny, John Heraty; Sean Regan, Adrian Phillips, Liam Lavin; Shane Boland, Cormac Phillips, Eoin Delaney. Subs: Daniel Huane (for A Phillips 38), Kealan Gallagher (for Delaney 45), Daniel Hill (for Hession 50), Brendan Sheridan and Kenny Feeney (for Boland and Lavin (55).
Armagh: Fintan Woods; Odhran Curry, Dillon Fox, Niall Lennon; Barry Shortt, Kieran McKernan, Tiarnán Nevin (c); Stephen Renaghan, Connor Renaghan; Joe O’Connor, Paul Gaffney, Alex O’Boyle; Tomás Galvin, Liam O’Flaherty, Fionntán Donnelly. Subs: Ciarán Duffy (for O’Connor 3), David Ryan (for Lennon 29), Seán Óg McGuinness (for O’Flaherty 44), Peadar McBride (for Duffy 49), K Laverty for C Renaghan (62).
REF: James Connors (Donegal)
