O’Hora hails character as comeback secures a precious point
Aoife Geraghty in control of the ball at midfield against Tyrone last Sunday. Picture: Cathriona Gillen
With three points now separating the top four in Division 2, every point counts and the draw Mayo earned away to Tyrone last Sunday could be vital.
Six points down at half-time after a first-half where they only scored a point, Mayo manager Diane O’Hora might have snapped a draw out your hands at that stage. To their credit, and aided by some crucial scores by Sinead Walsh, Lisa Cafferky and Aoife Staunton, Mayo left Omagh with exactly that – a share of the spoils.
“We're thrilled. To come away with the draw, after being seven or eight points down, I think it's just credit to the players, the panel, the players we brought in, the players that dug it out for the first 40 minutes or so,” O’Hora told the afterwards.
“It’s a huge panel effort today and I'm really proud of them really because I've mentioned character before and I know it sounds cliched and all, but who else is going to come away from being seven points down [away] and eight points at one stage. They showed huge resilience today and I'm just delighted to come away with the draw to be honest with you.”
On Sinead Cafferky’s score before the break, Mayo’s sole point in the first-half, O’Hora acknowledged it was ‘needed’.
“We had no score for the whole entire half at that stage. We'd one or two opportunities, we'd a goal opportunity that went off the post. If we'd put that one in, it could be a little bit different.
“I think we gave an awful lot of ball away from our kick outs and stuff like that, so we're going to have to do a lot of work on that. Our transition was a little bit too slow at times and that allowed Tyrone to get back. I think when we started playing a little bit more front foot football, head up football, I think things started. It just shows that they prefer it like that.
“They were taking lot of fruits off that and they were supporting each other. You can really see them wanting to express themselves a bit more, like the fast football style as opposed to the conditions and against the breeze in the first-half.”
The game against Tyrone saw Sinead Walsh return after missing the win over Tipperary while Lisa Cafferky played her first minutes of the season. Diane O’Hora also praised the efforts of the starting full-forward line of Maria Reilly, Saoirse Delaney and Kayla Doherty in what were testing conditions in the first-half. The manager said she is delighted with the increased competition ahead of a vital game at home against second-placed Donegal, where a victory for Mayo would take them into the promotion places with two games remaining.
“The girls that played the first-half did really well [against] the really shutdown Tyrone defence and it just opened up a little bit more.
“Lisa, to get her back in, that's her first-half an hour of football there with us. It was really, really good and Sinead Walsh is carrying a bit of an injury, but she got through everything okay for the last couple of training sessions and she got through this morning's warm up and stuff.
“It was great to be able to get her in for the half because you missed that ability but in fairness now, Kayla did really well and Saoirse and Maria Reilly as well. We have a lot to choose from so it's going to keep competition healthy within the group.”
