Mayo spoil Sligo's day with late rally
Luke Casserly of Sligo in action against Dylan Thornton of Mayo during Saturday's FBD Insurance Connacht SFL match at Fr O’Hara Park in Charlestown. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Sligo had a five points lead whipped from them as Andy Moran’s first competitive game as Mayo manager ended with his side registering a victory that was less comfortable than the scoreboard suggested.
The Green and Red hit the visitors for 1-6 without reply in the final ten minutes of Saturday’s clash in Charlestown, in what is Sligo’s first of two games in the FBD League this weekend.
Paul Kilcoyne’s 29th minute goal had brought the Yeats County level with Mayo for the first time and when they took the lead through Joshua Flynn’s point just moments later, they remained in the ascendancy until Enda Hession ran onto Ryan O’Donoghue’s pass to palm home Mayo’s goal three minutes from full-time. A brace of points each by substitutes Darragh Keaveney and Cian McHale helped Moran’s men close out the game, played in bright yet wintery conditions.
Sligo, themselves under new management in the guide of Dessie Sloyan and Eamonn O’Hara, had set the tempo for most of the first-half but were very wasteful in front of the posts, hitting no fewer than eight wides and dropping two more efforts into the arms of Mayo goalkeeper Robbie Hennelly.
Hennelly struck a pair of two point frees and midfielder Bob Tuohy a two-pointer from play, to see Mayo lead 0-7 to 0-3 after 16 minutes. However, the sharpshooting Deignan brothers, Shane and Lee, and Kilcoyne’s goal, had turned matters in Sligo’s favour and by the 40th minute the boys in White and Black were 1-10 to 0-8 ahead. Yet Mayo’s late scoring spree, which also saw another of the newcomers Tom Lydon on the scoresheet, saw them pick up their opening win of 2026.
See Tuesday's for full coverage including post-match interviews with management and players.
Mayo: Robbie Hennelly (0-2-0, 2tpf); Eoin McGreal, Liam Golden, Enda Hession (1-0-0), Fenton Kelly, Michael Plunkett (0-0-1), Colm Lynch; Bob Tuohy (0-1-0), Brian O’Malley; Nathan Moran, Adam Barrett, Seamus Howard; Darragh Beirne (0-0-2), Ryan O’Donoghue (0-0-2f), Kuba Callaghan (0-0-1). Subs: Jack Coyne for McGreal 27, Stephen Coen for Lynch 27, Cathal Keaveney (0-0-2) for O’Malley 37, Liam O’Donoghue for Howard 37), Dylan Thornton for Tuohy 40, Cian McHale (0-0-2, 1f) for Barrett 40, Tom Lydon (0-0-1) for Beirne 48, Diarmuid Duffy for Kelly 48.
Sligo: Keelan Harte; Tommy Ross, Nathan Mullen, Luke Casserly; Paul Kilcoyne (1-0-0), Jack Lavin, Daire O’Boyle; Darragh Cummins, Conor Sheridan; James Donlon, Alan McLoughlin (0-0-1), Joshua Flynn (0-0-1); Lee Deignan (0-1-3, 1tpf, 2f), Cian Lally (0-0-1), Shane Deignan (0-0-3). Subs: Gavin Gorman for Cummins 43, Michael Lavin for Kilcoyne 43, Dillon Walsh for O’Boyle 43.
REF: Jimmy Donoghue (Roscommon)
