Tuesday, 26 February 2013 12:37

ALL eyes will be on the Mayo performance, rather than the result, when they play Dublin in the national football league next Saturday night in Croke Park.
While two national league points would come in very handy for Mayo to take some pressure away from their remaining games, the county supporters will be more interested to see if their poor display against Tyrone in the last round was just a one-off.
Indeed, their opening encounter against a second-rate Kerry side, which they won by six points, was no great shakes, performance wise, so the green and red followers will be hoping this was a case of early season blues and it is only a matter of time before they get back to playing like they did throughout 2012.
Although Mayo beat the Dubs in the All-Ireland semifinal last year, they can expect the blue army to be ready to get revenge for that beating.
Going on the two league rounds to date, Dublin seem to be flying and look to have unearthed some fine new players.
Already they are many GAA enthusiasts’ favourites to regain the Sam Maguire this year. But it is very early days and most of the heavy hitters haven’t got into full swing yet.
But the big difference between Mayo and the other big guns is that James Horan has played most of the side which did ever so well last year, especially the last day against Tyrone.
No new blood has been unea

Tuesday, 12 February 2013 13:31

Lee Keegan, Mayo, in action against Ronan McNamee, left, and Joe McMahon, Tyrone, in Sunday's clash at McHale ParkTyrone 1-12 Mayo 1-11 …… After the arm wrestling that passed as a contest in round one of the national football league against Kerry last week, this was more of a bare knuckle street fight at Elvery’s McHale Park, Castlebar on Sunday when the reality of how tough it is going to be to survive in this division finally dawned on Mayo.

Tyrone and Mayo have tended to bring the best and worst out of each other and this game lived up to the prematch billing of a tough, uncompromising battle before a crowd of 6,500 in good conditions.

Despite the controversial ending to this game, which saw Tyrone snatch Mayo’s handbag with a late, late penalty, the statistics will confirm that Mayo played in snatches, and while they will have serious issues over the manner in which their defeat came about, they will have few complaints about the result, having put in a performance which did not merit a victory.

The reality now is Mayo have tumbled from being on top of the table last week to mid-division and with their next game away to unbeaten Dublin on March 2, survival now will be the name of the game, with some very tough opposition down the road.

However, what will be most disappointing from Mayo’s perspective is their continual poor use of possession. They did win an amount of ball thanks mainly to the high fielding of Aiden O’Shea, who ran himself into the ground, his brother Seamus also working hard but needing to be withdrawn having picked up a yellow card in the first half.

His replacement, Barry Moran, put in a big shift but Mayo’s problems were not at midfield.

The attack failed badly.

Players like Richie Feeney, Michael Conroy, Jason Doherty and Lee Keegan worked hard, but so many players ran into Tyrone traffic and were smothered up or dispossessed as the visitors hunted in packs and were much faster in moving the ball to their forward division, an area Mayo failed abysmally in.

Added to that, Mickey Harte used his bench judiciously, bringing in a number of substitutes who made an impact on the game.

Mayo turned to Alan Dillon and Donal Vaughan late in the game, the latter making a hasty point attempt which might have earned Mayo draw but it drifted just wide of the post.

Mayo had started this game well and were on top for the opening 15 minutes as Jason Doherty (free) and Lee Keegan, with a gem on his left boot, posted early points before Peter Harte got Tyrone off the mark on 13 minutes.

Tuesday, 05 February 2013 16:00

Kevin McLoughlin goes flat out against Kerry's Michael O'Donoghue in Sunday's national league opener at Eleverys McHael Park, Castlebar. Pic Michael DonnellyDepleated Kerry left at the starting gates ........ Mayo 0-15 Kerry 1-6.

MAYO couldn’t have asked for a better opening to their national league programme than this emphatic win over Kerry at a damp but far from dreary Elverys McHale Park,  Castlebar, on Sunday, where James Horan’s men turned up the heat to burn off a disappointing Kerry.
While the visitors had to play with 14 men for most of the second half after Anthony Maher was dispatched rather harshly on a second yellow card by a match official who  tried his best to ruin this game, but failed, Mayo were excellent value for their eight-point win and now face Tyrone with a pep in their step in round two next Sunday at the  same venue.
What must be encouraging for the Mayo management is the hunger and attitude shown by the bench players, while a few new positional changes also brought dividends,  notably the contribution of Jason Doherty at number 14, while Richie Feeney was outstanding in his new attacking role.
The full-back line of Shane McHale, Ger Cafferkey and Keith Higgins came through with flying colours but the halfback line has an unsettled look about it. In fairness, there were a few chairs moved around due to the absence of the injured Donal Vaughan. Tom Cunniffe started at centre-back, while Colm Boyle, who stood in for Vaughan,  layed in a variety of roles and looked happy in them all, and Chris Barrett created a lot of options for the manager.
The defence stood up well as Kerry, albeit depeted, failed to score in the second half, their last score coming seven minutes before the interval.
That point from Conor Cox had Kerry 1-6 to 0-7 ahead and they were beginning to look a serious threat at that point. But the O’Shea brothers, Aiden and Seamus, took  control at midfield and by the interval Mayo had reeled in those two points to level it at 0-9 to 1-6.
Doherty had the first of his half dozen inside the opening minute from play as Mayo dictated the opening 12 minutes, three frees on the bounce by Doherty, one a superb effort from all of 50 yards, extending Mayo’s lead to three.
Johnny Buckley nailed an excellent ’45 with the help of the wind to split the difference before Kerry struck for the only goal of the match, Mayo’s defence caught ball-watching as James O’Donoghue availed of a tap-down to beat David Clarke with a low angled shot.
That goal fired Kerry in front but an excellent score from Richie Feeney had matters balanced before Kerry shot two clear again, Michael O’Donoghue with a massive point and Darran O’Sullivan with his first and last score.