Precious win but Mayo leave much room to improve
Fergal Boland holds off Brian Kennedy of Tyrone during last Sunday's two points win for Mayo in Round 3 of Allianz Football League Division 1. Pictures: INPHO/James Crombie
You could have called this game a slow burner but that would only have been out of politeness. The fact was that the standard was bang average, with little to excite what possibly was the smallest attendance for a Mayo home game (bar the Covid-19 lockdown) since the days of using various club grounds back in the 2000s to play matches.
It wasn’t announced at the match but Mayo GAA later confirmed an official attendance of 6,029. To put that into context, when Tyrone visited two years ago, in February 2023, more than twice as many people, 12,218, paid in to MacHale Park watch the same fixture.
Maybe those who stayed away on Sunday knew something the rest of us didn’t. They missed a Mayo victory, but little else.
The second-half was perhaps a marginal improvement on the first from a Mayo perspective, given they scored five of the game’s last six points inside the final 16 minutes, when they had scored only four for the entire first-half. But there was little here to inspire either set of supporters. The two teams have one win apiece from their opening three matches and will remain firm contenders for relegation unless improving dramatically on Sunday’s showing in Castlebar.
In team news, Mayo welcomed Jordan Flynn back from his All-Ireland exploits with Crossmolina Deel Rovers and his muscle was a welcome addition to the central third, so too his two-point score inside the opening minute of the second-half – just Mayo’s third of the campaign. There was a first-ever start for Cian McHale of Moy Davitts, who scored one point from a free before replaced at half-time, while Eoin O’Donoghue was also handed just his second senior start since 2021. It should be said that the Belmullet man made a couple of very telling contributions from his corner-back berth.
Later in the game came the seasonal reappearances of Aidan O’Shea and Jack Coyne, the former moving ahead of Andy Moran as the most capped league footballer in Mayo history (102), while manager Kevin McStay afterwards assured that team captain Paddy Durcan, Jack Carney and Tommy Conroy will all see game-time during this current Division 1 campaign as well. On this latest evidence, their returns cannot come quick enough, even if, as McStay stated in Sunday’s programme notes, that different teams approach the league with different objects and that Mayo’s is to strengthen the panel.
“We believe this process is progressing well, with a significant number of players gaining valuable NFL exposure,” wrote McStay. “Patience is required from all of us. Of course, maintaining our Division 1 status remains a priority and both objectives are not mutually exclusive,” he added.
That patience was tested on Sunday, but a win is a win… and with Armagh’s only victory in three games having also come at home to Tyrone, suddenly there is a huge incentive for Mayo to overturn and leapfrog the All-Ireland champions when they visit the Athletic Grounds next Saturday evening.
After 20 minutes on Sunday last, Mayo and Tyrone had kicked one point apiece, both from play, with Frank Irwin scoring for the locals in the third minute and Tyrone’s opener coming in the 17th, courtesy of goalkeeper Niall Morgan.
Mayo had very nearly conjured a seventh minute goal, when Eoghan McLaughlin turned on the afterburners to jink past Kieran McGeary and draw a fabulous save by Morgan down to his left, but such instinct was too rare in supply on what was a drab and dreary afternoon in every respect.
Even the match officials seemed a little off form, with referee Barry Cassidy stopping play at one stage to consult with linesman Barry Judge after Mayo’s management correctly, despite Tyrone’s objections, instructed two players (instead of three) to remain in their half once Conor Reid had been dismissed on a black card.
Points by Davitt Neary and Cian McHale, a free, after Tyrone had simultaneously fouled Reid and broke the three up rule, had earlier sent Mayo into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead but the sides were all square again after 27 minutes following singles by Brian Kennedy and Michael McKernan.
Mattie Ruane, who had been showing well for Colm Reape’s kickouts, kicked a stylish point into the Albany End on the half hour but it was Tyrone who held a slender 0-4 to 0-5 advantage at the break after an excellent point off his left from the left by Mark Bradley, who then set-up a similarly good score on the opposite wing for Eoin McElholm.
Reid’s black card was technically correct yet particularly harsh all at once, after he offloaded the ball and gently turned to deny Darren McCurry a clear run at the Mayo player in possession. But when Reid returned to the field just as Jordan Flynn nailed a two pointer inside a minute of the restart, sending Mayo from behind to in front in one kick, the disappointing thing was that the Green and Red didn’t push on, falling quickly behind again as McCurry and Morgan, both from frees, restored the Ulster side’s lead.
It could have been worse – wing-forward Ciaran Daly wildly blasted a goal chance wide of Reape’s left-hand upright – but even though Frank Irwin levelled matters, after good approach play by McLaughlin and Enda Hession, the Red Hands moved two points in front for the first time, with a McCurry free preceding Niall Morgan’s second point from play, after the ‘keeper, too often left unchecked by a retreating Mayo defence, ran onto Mark Bradley’s cross-field pass and drilled over.
Hindering Mayo’s cause at this stage was their prolificacy for wides, with Ryan O’Donoghue, an interval replacement for Cian McHale, Fergal Boland, twice, after he came in for Paul Towey, and Frank Irwin each off target in a five minute window. But Tyrone weren’t any better and eventually paid a price, as the typically direct Davitt Neary earned a free for O’Donoghue to open his account, and Fergal Boland ran the support line on Jordan Flynn’s counterattack to receive a pass and guide over the equaliser, at 0-9 apiece after 59-minutes.
The hardworking Irwin and sub Cathal McShane, from a self-won free, traded singles but with the clock now furiously counting down, both teams thought they might pay dearly for fluffed scoring chances. Tyrone were again guilty of not keeping three players up top but when Ryan O’Donoghue brought the free outside the arc as if to attempt a two pointer, he instead went short to Darren McHale who delayed too long on the ball and saw his goal attempt blocked. But Niall Morgan was also guilty of taking the wrong option when, in the 67th minute and the scores still tied, he charged through the home defence but rather than fire a point, shot low from quite some distance and Eoin O’Donoghue was on hand to parry and clear his lines. Darren McHale was fouled at the opposite end moments later and Ryan O’Donoghue converted the free to place Mayo in front for the first time in almost half an hour.
The hosts managed to keep Tyrone hemmed in from thereon, with the visitors having Michael McKernan receive a second booking for a foul on Neary. And it was a first yellow for Brian Kennedy, after a high tackle on Ryan O’Donoghue, that saw the latter exchanges passes with Fergal Boland from the free and slip in sub Aidan O’Shea who passed back to Boland for the insurance point 30 seconds out from the hooter.
Regardless of how Mayo fare in Armagh next Saturday, there’ll be a bigger crowd for the next home game against Kerry on Saturday, March 1 – just don’t expect the Kingdom to be so forgiving as the Red Hands.
Scorers – Mayo: Frank Irwin 0-0-3, Jordan Flynn 0-1-0, Ryan O’Donoghue 0-0-2 (2f), Fergal Boland 0-0-2, Davitt Neary 0-0-1, Cian McHale 0-0-1 (f), Matthew Ruane 0-0-1.
Tyrone: Niall Morgan 0-0-3 (1f), Darren McCurry 0-0-2 (2f), Brian Kennedy 0-0-1, Michael McKernan 0-0-1, Mark Bradley 0-0-1, Eoin McElholm 0-0-1, Cathal McShane 0-0-1 (1f).
Mayo: Colm Reape; Eoin O’Donoghue, Stephen Coen, Enda Hession; Donnacha McHugh, David McBrien, Eoghan McLaughlin; Jordan Flynn, Matthew Ruane; Conor Reid, Darren McHale, Davitt Neary; Paul Towey, Frank Irwin, Cian McHale. Subs: Ryan O’Donoghue (for McHale ht), Fergal Boland (for Towey 46), Aidan O’Shea (for Neary 54-64, blood), Jack Coyne (for Coen 60), O’Shea (for Reid 64), Sam Callinan (for McLaughlin 68).
Tyrone: Niall Morgan; Aidan Clarke, Peter Teague, Niall Devlin; Rory Brennan, Michael McKernan, Liam Gray; Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Seanie O’Donnell, Kieran McGeary, Ciaran Daly; Darren McCurry, Mark Bradley, Eoin McElholm. Subs: Shane O’Hare (for Gray ht), Mattie Donnelly and Ronan Cassidy (for McGeary and O’Donnell 46), Aodhan Dempsey (for Daly 60), Cathal McShane (for Cassidy 61, blood).
REF: Barry Cassidy (Derry)
