Mayo slay the old enemy in Salthill sizzler

They are rarely dull but it’s arguable that never has there been a more exciting or keenly contested game of National League football between Mayo and Galway than that which ended in a three points win for the Green and Red on Sunday afternoon.

Andy Moran’s side was left hanging on by its fingernails yet picked up a precious two points on the Division One road thanks to a 3-18 to 2-18 victory at Pearse Stadium.

The biggest difference between the teams was that Mayo converted three of the four goal chances they created whereas Galway scored only two from nine excellent opportunities.

Moran, for whom this was his first league game as Mayo manager, will have been enthused by the debut goal for Darragh Beirne and one for Cian McHale on only his second league start, while the 1-4 provided in the first-half by Breaffy veterans Aidan O’Shea and Rob Hennelly, the latter’s four points coming from two-point frees, had helped the visitors into a 1-12 to 0-9 half-time lead.

Conditions in Salthill were incredibly benign but if there was any breeze against them, it didn’t hinder Mayo who had set the pace throughout the opening half in which they never trailed. There was the disappointment of losing another of the debutants, Eoin McGreal, to an early injury, but when the team reemerged for the second-half and pushed into an eleven points lead after 44 minutes, with Darragh Beirne coolly rolling home Mayo’s second goal and Hennelly driving over another two-pointer, there was a real sense that 2026, if nothing else, isn’t going to be a boring one for the loyal Mayo support.

And everything that followed only reinforced that view, with Mayo incredibly lucky not to have been forced into at least a share of the spoils by a Galway side that eventually hit its stride.

The home side’s full-forward line contributed 1-10 from play, with Rob Finnerty and Fionn McDonagh a tremendous handful. A succession of points by both players, and a 56th minute soccer-style goal by Shane McGrath, saw Galway reduce their arrears to four points before Mayo’s third goal, drilled home by Cian McHale, widened the gap again.

The final ten minutes were utter chaos, as Fionn McDonagh struck Galway’s second goal and Ciaran Mulhern landed a two-pointer, despite the home side now down to fourteen players following a black card to sub Mattius Barrett.

Goal attempts by Sean Kelly and Rob Finnerty were thwarted by blocks from David McBrien and Rob Hennelly, and somehow Mayo survived the bombardment that had seen them outscored by 2-8 to 1-3 from the 44th minute on.

Next up is a home clash with Dublin in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park next Sunday.

See Tuesday’s Western People for a full report, reaction, opinion and analysis.