Peadar’s pride in resilience shown by Green and Red

Mayo manager Peadar Gardiner’s assertion that it was ‘a great night of football’ was as accurate as his side’s shooting last Wednesday, as the Green and Red picked up an important win over Galway in the Connacht U20 Championship.

“Galway are an exceptional team, and we knew that. Both teams went hammer and tongs at it and we just scraped it at the very end. It could have went any way but we take the victory tonight. It’s game two so we move on to Leitrim in Castlebar next Wednesday, so that’s the focus straight away,” said Peadar Gardiner afterwards, adding that it was “an unbelievable game of football”.

“The game ebbed and flowed. There were times we were chasing it, times we were ahead, and Galway came back strong.

“A great game of football, great Mayo crowd. I'm excited for the lads and their parents here. It's nice to have nights like this,” admitted the manager.

Last year, Mayo had begun the championship quite well with a draw against eventual Connacht champions Roscommon and a win against Galway, but subsequent defeats to Sligo, Leitrim and, in the All-Ireland ‘B’ championship, to Down, meant it was quite a disappointing campaign.

“There was a strong breeze out there and whoever had it had a big impetus with them,” said Gardiner of this latest tussle with the Tribesmen.

“Galway got that goal but our lads, great character, great resilience. We managed the game well; our conversion rate was a lot higher. We worked on our shooting this week; we were poor against Roscommon. We were patient with the ball against the breeze.

“We’ve fantastic footballers and some fantastic forwards, great shooters. They stuck in there and we went in two points up, but Galway are very dangerous and obviously they came back and went three, four points up at one stage.

“But again, great character from the lads, an unbelievable bunch of players that trained really hard the past number of months. I’m delighted for them tonight but we need to come down to earth really quick and get ready for next Wednesday night.” 

Gardiner also praised the impact that the Mayo bench had going into the final quarter, namechecking Darragh Beirne and Diarmuid Duffy in particular for their contributions. Between club, county and schools football, Beirne has played a considerable amount the past year while it was Duffy’s first game back from injury and the manager said both will be carefully used in the coming weeks.

“Our bench did unbelievable as well. It's great to have a big squad like that. You need everyone to win games like this.

“Darragh Beirne’s a class act. He proved that when he came on there tonight. Every time he gets the ball, something exciting is going to happen. When he doesn't have the ball, he's an unbelievable tackler and unbelievable worker. He's an unbelievable player and no better man to get the ball in his hand and kick that (two pointer). It was a huge score.

“He’d a cameo last week off the bench and same again tonight. And Diarmuid Duffy. It shows the depth of the squad that you can afford to leave players of that quality and have them for that last 20 minutes when needed most.

“We’ve a good squad. We lost Aaron Coggins, he had a super game last week against Roscommon and unfortunately picked up an injury at the weekend. We've a couple of other knocks in the squad as well; Diarmuid hasn't played any football the last three, four months. That was his first game back versus Darragh Beirne, who’s had two, three years of consistent football.

“We’re going to try and mind him. That's what this group is about. It's a results business obviously but we're certainly going to look after the players and do what’s right by them. We've got just reward from Darragh tonight, he was fresh coming off the bench and did a great job.” 

Mayo now play Leitrim tomorrow (Wednesday) at 6.15pm in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, where a win, coupled with Sligo getting a result against Galway, could see Mayo book their spot in the Connacht final with a game to spare.

Leitrim recorded a famous win in Ballinamore last year and much of the side are involved with the county’s senior team. While they were beaten by Galway in their opening game, Peadar Gardiner expects a ‘massive test’.

“Leitrim are an excellent side. We know all about them obviously. They’ve a lot of experienced players playing Division 3 in the National League. They’re going to come down to Castlebar with nothing to lose. It’s going to be an unbelievable battle for us. That's what it's is going to be. We have to prepare; we’ll have a good week's training and we’ll see how it goes.”