Mayo misfire in Oscar Traynor stalemate
Mayo League's Darren Browne looks for support in their Round 1 game against Sligo/Leitrim in the Oscar Traynor Cup. Picture: Michael Donnelly
A missed second half penalty saw the Mayo League spurn a glorious chance to take a vital three points from their Oscar Traynor Cup opener against the Sligo/Leitrim League on Sunday afternoon.
Jordan Loftus, who had opened the scoring for the home team in the first half, watched the opposing shotstopper Jamie McCoy stop his penalty and from there, Mayo failed to get ahead of Sligo. The visitors had leveled matters at the beginning of the second half but otherwise looked there for the taking and the full-time result will have proved frustrating for new Mayo manager Alan Henry against his native Sligo.
It was a much-changed Mayo side from the team that lost out in last year’s Oscar Traynor semi-final with the likes of Jason Hunt and Niall Brennan on the injured list and former Castlebar Celtic defender Cathal Coyne now playing his football with Salthill Devon, coincidentally lining out for the Galway League in their comeback 5-2 win against Roscommon.
Four of the starting 11 were retained from last year’s defeat to Limerick but it was a fresh face who caught the eye early on. Ballina Town’s Oisin Tighe was electric on the left flank and burst forward on the counter-attack after 16 minutes following a Sligo/Leitrim corner. He found Mark Cunningham storming forward on the far side, but he was stopped in his tracks by an opposing defender.
After 22 minutes, Mayo had a breakthrough and while scrappy, it was a breakthrough all the same. The ball fell loose to Darren Browne in the box and he got his shot away. McCoy got down to save but it came loose to Loftus, just inches from goal. He held off close attention from Emmanuel Oyewusi and was able to poke it over the line to put Mayo 1-0 in front.
Sligo/Leitrim had little in the way of chances and there was a sense that Mayo could have put the bed by half time had they been more clinical. Oisin Tighe rifled a shot towards goal, but McCoy got hands to it. Mark Cunningham played a delicious pass behind the Sligo/Leitrim defence, but Johnnie Cocozza’s shot was too close to McCoy.
The equalising goal came out of almost nowhere for Sligo/Leitrim, who had been void of creativity throughout the game thus far. Ryan McManus launched a pass over the top of the Mayo defence, and Israel Ayorinde controlled it beautifully and fired past James Robinson to make it 1-1 with 52 minutes played.
Tighe got involved again as Mayo looked to reply quickly. He played a ball across to Oran Groarke, who found Loftus in space in the box. His first effort with the right foot was blocked by the defence and the left footed effort was well-saved by McCoy.
Once again, Tighe ran at the Sligo/Leitrim defence and was brought down by Ryan McManus inside the area. Loftus shot to the right and McCoy got down to save the penalty.
There was plenty of time left to play in this game, but it felt as though the bulk of Mayo’s efforts had already been spent against a stubborn Sligo/Leitrim defence marshalled by McManus.
They made some changes to try and spark new life in the attack but failed to make a difference. There were late chances for Sam Barnes and Darren Browne but nothing to worry Jamie McCoy between the posts.
With Galway picking up three points against Roscommon and only one team able to advance, the magnitude of Mayo’s trip to face the Tribesmen next month has increased. Anything but a winning result for Mayo would mean a very short Oscar Traynor campaign for the 2024 finalists.
