Luckless Mayo draw another blank against 10-man Town
The Mayo FC U20 team who played Athlone Town at Umbro Park, Milebush on Saturday, falling to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Midlanders.
Mayo were very unlucky in the Saturday sunshine of Umbro Park, after they were beaten by the game’s only goal by ten-man Athlone Town to record their fifth straight defeat. Along the way they missed four great goal chances and remain bottom of the table after the first round of fixtures.
On the positive side, Mayo were up against a side containing five players with Airtricity League first team experience, and Mayo are the only team in the group without a senior side or senior football tradition. This is a new team too. Other academies have brought most of their team through from under-14.
Mayo are unlikely to get a better opportunity to record their first points of the season, however. Their luck was out on Saturday, and they have only scored once so far in the campaign. The missing of simple chances shows a team lacking confidence and edge up front.
Mayo were disciplined at the back where Daniel Lynch, Cathal Gavin, Miguel Ruiz Tully and Zach Stone were in top form, and their midfielders tackled well and created openings. Mayo created more chances than in any of their previous outings, and manager Anthony O’Neill can take some comfort from that.
“It’s hard to know why we can’t score, because in training, they're banging them in,” O’Neill told the Western People afterwards. “We see a lot of good goals scored in training, and obviously you're hoping that that's replicated then in the games.” Mayo got in behind the Athlone defence on numerous occasions on Saturday, something that they have struggled to do against other opposition. JP Collins had Mayo’s first chance after ten minutes. He forced two saves from the Athlone goalkeeper, Conor Wall, after sending both shots straight at the stopper. A goal for Mayo that stage would surely have altered the course of the game.
Defender Adam Nolan, who was excellent throughout, had a half chance for Athlone, but he headed over. Then on 30 minutes, Athlone Town left back James Murtagh saw his second yellow of the day from referee, Tom Jennings, for retaliation to a tackle, after he had won a free-kick.
But it was Athlone that reacted best to the sending off. They went in front within two minutes when Dara Kavanagh broke through the middle and after a one-two with Zach Lawless that cut the defence open, he shot past Fionn Barnes for the game’s only goal.
Alex Sheerin for Athlone looked dangerous all afternoon. He turned well but the referee’s whistle ruled his effort offside. Cathal Gavin closely marked the Athlone danger-man, reducing him mainly to speculative efforts from distance Mayo had a glorious chance two minutes before the break. Ethan Hosty did the heavy lifting on the wing, beating three players before crossing low, but somehow JP Collins at the near post, and Daviti Tsikarishvili at the back post, failed to get a touch that would have counted, with the goalkeeper beaten. Rarely will this team or these players, get a better chance.
Athlone nearly went two-up immediately after the restart, when Sheerin lobbed the advancing Barnes, only for the intervention of Mayo’s best performer on the day, Cathal Gavin, to head off the line.
Mayo’s Guga Kokaia and Athlone’s Kian Brunton picked up yellow cards when the game momentarily boiled over, just after the hour mark. On another day, they might have seen red, but things settled down after that.
As time ran out, substitute, Noah Ward, continued Mayo’s established tradition of firing straight at the ’keeper, and Patrick Heinz Ward sent a scoreable shot over the bar to add to Mayo’s woes.
Gavin performed well for Mayo, as did Barnes, Miguel Ruiz Tully and Aron Heaney. Sheerin and Adam Nolan were best for the Midlanders.
“We had everything in our favour today,” O’Neill said, “with the sending off so early.
“Ultimately the game of football comes down to who scores the most goals, and you have to put the ball in the back of the net if you're going to get points, and that's why we're not getting points at the moment. Every game has been close, bar last week when we lost 3-0, but again today we lose 1-0, but clearly we had the better chances.” Mayo: Fionn Barnes: Daniel Lynch (John Macklin 81), Cathal Gavin, Miguel Ruiz Tully, Zach Stone (Noah Ward 60); Guga Kokaia, Patrick Heinz Ward, Aron Heaney: Ethan Hosty, JP Collins, Daviti Tsikarishvili.
Athlone T: Conor Wall; Bobby Brett, Adam Nolan, Tadgh Connolly, James Murtagh; Colm Cleary, (Martin Scally 84), Colm Doyle (Tiernan Adelu), Kian Brunton; Dara Kavanagh (Sam Byrne 60), Alex Sheerin, Zach Lawless.
REF: Tom Jennings
