Victory helps to change the mood music around Mayo football

If Mayo’s opening fixture in the National Football League is a sign of things to come, then there will be plenty of entertainment in the year ahead – whatever about anything else. Andy Moran’s first big test as manager ended with victory over our oldest rivals, and while the three-point margin was a bit too close for comfort for a team that led by 11 points at the midway stage of the second-half, the positives far outweighed the negatives on a winter’s afternoon in Salthill.

Three goals, including two from young forwards Darragh Beirne and Cian McHale, as well as a Man of the Match display from the returning Rob Hennelly in goal, were the chief highlights in a hugely encouraging display from a Mayo team that is obviously a work in progress. Aidan O’Shea also featured among the goals, while players like Bob Tuohy and Sam Callinan, who are still very young footballers, gave performances that suggested they can have a big 2026.

The goalkeeping position is as good a place as any to commence this analysis, especially as it has become such a pivotal role in the modern game. There are essentially three skillsets required for today’s goalkeeper – kickouts, shot-stopping and long-distance frees. In each of those categories, Rob Hennelly excelled last Sunday, and it is not an exaggeration to state that Mayo would have left Salthill with nothing were it not for his last gasp saves in the second-half when Galway were enjoying their purple patch. The former Breaffy man’s save from Sean Kelly would be getting rave reviews were it to be seen in the English Premier League.

Hennelly has always been a fine shot-stopper, going right back to his days as a minor goalkeeper in 2008, and he demonstrated the very best of that traditional art of goalkeeping on Sunday. However, he has also adapted to the modern game and his kickouts, for the most part, were very effective, providing Mayo with a platform from which to build their attacks.

Hennelly also tended to get distance into his restarts, something that has not been the case with Mayo in recent years, and we all know what happened in MacHale Park last May when a short kickout went astray against Galway. The short kickout is a necessary part of the modern game but it shouldn’t be a team’s default position because there is a heavy price to pay when it goes wrong. The strategy can unravel very quickly when opposition teams push up so it would seem like a far wiser approach to vary the kickouts and to only use the short option when the receiving player is in plenty of space. Hennelly mixed it appropriately on Sunday and he was well served at midfield where Bob Tuohy showed up for the ball, both on his own kickout and on the Galway restarts.

TWO-POINTERS WIN GAMES 

The old cliché in Gaelic football used to be that ‘goals win games’, but we might need to change that for this new era. Mayo scored three goals on Sunday, yet just as important were the team’s five two-pointers, with three coming in the first-half to give them a six-point cushion at the interval.

Rob Hennelly opened the scoring for Mayo with a fine two-pointer from a free in the second minute and added a second in the 27th minute before Jack Carney kicked a magnificent two-pointer from play on the stroke of half-time. One of the big bugbears for supporters last year was Mayo’s unwillingness to attempt two-pointers, which seemed to be indicative of an overly cautious approach that also manifested itself in frequent lateral passing moves, which often amounted to nought.

It is impossible to judge a new manager’s style of play from a few games in January, but Andy Moran’s approach in the FBD fixtures seems to suggest that he will be encouraging his team to adopt a more direct attacking style, one that will hopefully bring out the best in young players like Darragh Beirne and Cian McHale. It is hugely encouraging to see two young players, both of whom are third-level students, raising green flags on the opening day of the National League campaign. Their clinical approach in front of goal will come as no surprise to anyone who has watched these players at underage level. They are serious prospects who have a lot to offer Mayo in the years ahead.

Defeat to Galway in Salthill in January was never going to define Andy Moran’s first year in charge but this game was important in terms of the mood music around Mayo football. There has been a slew of negativity in recent years, which can be traced back to the dismal performance in the All-Ireland Final in 2021. The messy departure of the management team last year certainly didn’t help matters, not to mention the off-field controversies, which at times have threatened to consume Mayo GAA.

A defeat last Sunday would have left Mayo facing into a home tie against Dublin where both sides needed a victory – with the Dubs having lost to Donegal in Croke Park last Saturday evening. It would have ratcheted up the pressure on Andy Moran and his players, especially if Mayo had lost to Galway having surrendered a healthy second-half lead.

The loss of that 11-point advantage is a concern because it is not the first time this has happened. Indeed, Mayo teams under multiple managers have struggled to kill off opposing teams, and it is one of those conundrums that seems almost impossible to figure out. It has also created a narrative that is problematic for Mayo football, i.e. that we are vulnerable to the opposition regardless of the advantage we might have on the scoreboard.

The number of goal chances given up in the final quarter was worrying and it does beg the question whether David McBrien would be better employed at the heart of the Mayo defence instead of at midfield. We know only too well how hard it is to find a natural full-back so it seems like a terrible waste to remove McBrien from that specialist role, especially when we have other options at midfield but none at full-back. The bottom line is that we cannot give away the goal chances that were coughed up in this game because Rob Hennelly can’t be expected to make miracle saves every weekend.

However, the overall feeling has to be one of delight that Andy Moran has got off to a winning start, and hopefully he can get a first home victory under his belt next weekend. We have had enough negativity in Mayo GAA, and it is time to turn over a new leaf with a manager that was always nothing less than positive throughout his playing career. There should be a good crowd in MacHale Park on Sunday next for the visit of the Dubs, which is always a great occasion in Castlebar, and it will be interesting to see whether Moran’s men can build on the best of their opening day while eliminating some of the errors and lapses in concentration that almost allowed Galway to grab a draw at the death.