Luck is only going to get this Mayo team so far

When it comes to Gaelic football, no county can do extremes quite like Mayo. The principal criticism during the Kevin McStay/Stephen Rochford era was the lack of adventure and the overemphasis on defensive play. Well, we have certainly solved that problem under Andy Moran and have now gone full 180 degrees by becoming a team that views defensive duties in much the same way as the famous Brazilian soccer team of 1982 – an inconvenience that gets in the way of more fun things like scoring goals.

In all my years watching the Mayo senior team, I cannot recall a game of consequence where we gave up as many goal chances. It was almost comical at times as Monaghan repeatedly found new ways of failing to put the ball in the Mayo net until substitute Bobby McCaul finally showed the sort of composure that had been sorely lacking in earlier moves by raising a first green flag in the 54th minute.

Goalkeeper Jack Livingstone had been called into action as early as the fourth minute when he made a fine save from Andrew Woods and he repeated the feat time and time again as his goal came under siege in the second-half. Indeed, up to the point when the unfortunate McCaul went off injured, Monaghan were creating a goal-scoring opportunity with almost every attack. Their wastefulness was on an epic scale, and they ultimately paid the price with just a single point separating the teams when the hooter sounded. Yes, they had a legitimate point denied, but the real story here was the failure of Monaghan to make the most of the plethora of scoring opportunities that came their way.

Andy Moran and his management team had hoped that this game might dispel some of the concerns raised in the wake of the heavy defeat to Roscommon, but it did the opposite and one can only imagine what forwards like Diarmuid Murtagh and the Heneghans would have done had they been afforded the gilt-edged chances that fell the way of Monaghan. Had we been playing Roscommon again, we would have lost by even more.

It was just chaos in front of the Mayo goal in that second-half, and we looked as porous in our full-back line as we have ever done. Enda Hession, Jack Coyne and Donnacha McHugh are all fine footballers who have delivered outstanding man-marking jobs in the past, so it’s very hard to understand what is going on with them as a defensive unit. Monaghan are formidable when they get momentum behind them – as Armagh discovered in the Ulster Final just a few weeks ago – but Mayo were so open at the back from the very beginning and the Farney men seemed to be able to create goal-scoring opportunities at will, even if they couldn’t convert them.

The irony is that our defenders are struggling at a time when we have one of the most potent full-forward lines in the country. The decision to relocate Ryan O’Donoghue nearer to goal was fully vindicated in the opening half as he led the line in impressive style, ably assisted by the U20 duo of Darragh Beirne and Kobe McDonald. A first-half return of 1-12 from the full-forward line was more than anyone could have hoped for and set Mayo up for the Monaghan onslaught that would inevitably come in the second-half, especially as the Ulster finalists had the wind at their backs.

There had been hints at Mayo’s defensive frailties in that opening half, but they were harshly exposed once Monaghan injected some urgency into their play on the restart. Whenever a Mayo player was turned over in attack, the Monaghan players charged forward at pace and easily opened the Mayo defensive cover. McCaul (twice), Micheál Bannigan and Michael McCarville all had goal-scoring opportunities in the opening 10 minutes as the Mayo defence came to rely on a rookie goalkeeper – and the woodwork on one occasion – to undeservedly maintain its clean sheet.

The sudden collective loss of form of our defenders is truly perplexing. As mentioned earlier, we currently have a very potent full-forward line and one can imagine that they are keeping our full-backs on their toes at training, yet for whatever reason we are not functioning as a defensive unit, and this is the second game in a row where our frailties have been exposed, if not punished. Had young McCaul stayed on the field it is almost certain that Monaghan would have won because he was unmarkable at the point when he suffered his game-ending injury. Indeed, he had got out ahead of Hession and won the ball before collapsing to the ground with what looked like a serious knee injury.

Andy Moran and his management team have a tonne of work to do in the next fortnight to get things right for round two. The opposition is unknown at the time of writing, but the truth is that there is no county in the winners’ bowl – even Division 2 teams like Cork and Louth – who will fear Mayo based on our three championship displays to date. In fact, it could be argued that of the eight teams who have qualified for Round 2A, Mayo have shown the poorest form across their three games.

The hope is that we can rectify our defensive failings and make it to Croke Park for an All-Ireland quarter-final. It would be wonderful to see the generational talent that is Kobe McDonald performing on the hallowed sod of GAA headquarters before he sets off for Australia later this summer. Realistically, a quarter-final is the height of Mayo’s ambitions right now, but perhaps we can suddenly discover a rich vein of form that will propel us into the final four in the competition. However, it will take something extraordinary to turn our season around, notwithstanding the fact that we are currently in a better position than Roscommon who have delivered outstanding performances in three successive games that are a world apart from Mayo’s kamikaze displays.

Can we sort out our defensive woes in a matter of weeks? It seems unlikely. Mayo have played 13 competitive games since the start of the year and have conceded 20 goals; in fact, the only game we didn’t concede a goal was against Armagh in the National League. Clearly, Andy Moran decided to put an emphasis on attacking football in the post-McStay/Rochford era, but he has swung the pendulum too far in the opposite direction and we are now one of the easiest teams in the country to score goals against. Moving David McBrien to full-back might shore things up, but it’s very late in the season to be trying to change the full-back and centre-back.

It is also worth remembering that Mayo arrived in Clones with a full complement of players whereas our opponents lost three key men – Stephen O’Hanlon before the game and Ryan McAnispie and young McCaul in the first and second halves respectively, and entered without the suspended Darragh McElearney who was sent-off during extra-time in their Ulster Final defeat to Armagh. Yet we were the ones clinging on for dear life at the end, having coughed up a 12-point second-half lead. Had there been another minute or two, it is most likely that Monaghan would have taken the game to extra-time and with all the momentum going into it you wouldn’t have bet against them.

Of course, there are positives to be taken from last Sunday, not least the display of Jack Livingstone in goal, although we still struggled to retain possession from kickouts. Our scoring threat is there for all to see, and if we can get a decent share of the possession at midfield, we will hurt teams. The younger players really stood up, including Hugh O’Loughlin who offered ball-winning potential at midfield. He is clearly a player who will play a big part in Mayo’s future, while championship debutant Darragh Beirne is confirming the potential he has shown at underage and colleges’ level.

But it is hard to come away from Clones with anything other than a sinking feeling that if we continue to cough up goal chances, we will take a heavy beating in the next few weeks. There are under-12 teams that wouldn’t have given up as many opportunities last weekend and that is not an exaggeration. Indeed, if any reader can recall a game involving the Mayo senior footballers where our opponents had so many chances to raise green flags then please let me know as I genuinely cannot think of anything that came even remotely close to last Sunday’s defensive meltdown.

By the time you read this, our second-round opponents will have become known. Maybe we will have got lucky with another favourable draw, but luck will only get you so far. At some point in the coming weeks, we’ll find ourselves in a winner-takes-all clash, and what we do then will ultimately serve as a judgement on Andy Moran’s first year in charge. There is no doubt that he has improved our offensive play, but if you are leaking goals at the other end, no set of attackers can score enough to keep you in every game… as that great Brazilian soccer team of 1982 eventually discovered in a World Cup Final.