LADIES BORD GAIS NATIONAL LEAGUE FINAL DIVISION 2

Mayo 4-17

Galway 2-7

 

MAYO ladies senior footballers produced one of their best displays for along time when they inflicted a very heavy defeat on arch rivals Galway in the division two national league final played in Parnell Park, Dublin, on Saturday.

After a number of years in the wilderness due to many problems with ladies GAA in the county, this Mayo senior side is back in the big time and such was their five-star display against Galway, that the glory days are back and it looks like it is onwards and upwards for this side.

While all the talk afterwards was the display of Cora Staunton (truly magnificent and showed why she is still the best forward in the country by scoring 2-11), what was most pleasing from a Mayo point of view was the overall team performance. From one to 15 they were brilliant, and while it was a team of experience and youth, you couldn’t be faulted for thinking they had been playing together for several years. Their passing movements up the field were a delight to watch as was their workrate and general play.

RONAN McGarrity is on the verge of a return to the Mayo senior GAA panel, the Connaught Telegraph has learned.

The Ballina midfielder who has been training hard and playing well for his club has not been part of the Mayo squad since their defeat by Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final last August.

However, he has been putting in a lot of training since the turn of the year and with impressive club performances over the past number of weeks it is expected he will rejoin the Mayo panel in the near future, if not this week.

Mayo’s major problem over the recent national campaign was in centre field where they struggled in most games. With the O’Shea brothers sidelined through injury, this vital area was a cause for much concern. As a result McGarrity’s recall will come as no surprise as on his day he is one of the best in the country.

A controversial incident in last Sunday's Allianz Football league final was the tripping of Mayo's Lee Keegan as he ran past Cork's Pearse O'Neill during the second halfMAYO’S bid for their first national league prize in 11 years was literally gone with the wind in Arctic-like conditions on Sunday at Croke Park where they were blown away yet again by Cork who retained their division 1 league title.

Leading by 0-9 to 0-5 at the interval, having played with that strong wind the Connaught champions looked to be in with a big chance but within eight minutes of the restart, Cork had fired over four unanswered points to wipe the slate clean and when a goal followed almost immediately, the writing was clearly on the wall for a Mayo team that once again under performed on the big stage.

While Mayo struggled around the midfield area their failure to match Cork in this department can’t be entirely blamed for a five-point defeat.

James Horan was not hiding behind any excuses, taking the defeat on the chin, but he did agree with a question concerning the incident before the first Cork goal when Mayo were not awarded what looked like a free when Lee Keegan appeared be pushed in the back as he ran towards goal.