Mayo overcome Galway challenge to reach Connacht semis
Mayo have qualified for the EirGrid Connacht Under 20 football championship semi-finals thanks to a fully deserved 1-6 to 1-4 victory over Galway this evening at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence in Bekan, writes Aiden Henry.
Played in very wintry conditions, with the strong wind making life very difficult for both sides to notch up scores, there was no doubt Mayo were the better team.
However, as in all games between these two arch rivals, it was keenly contested from the off, with the final result in doubt right up to the final whistle.
This was a polished performance from Maurice Sheridan’s side. They were well prepared for this opening championship encounter and can now look forward to a meeting with Leitrim next Wednesday night at a Leitrim venue in the semi-final.
Playing into the strong and difficult wind, Mayo controlled the play in the opening 30 minutes. They defended in droves and broke at pace upfield on numerous occasions. Indeed, a feature of their play was how they passed the ball around with a confidence that belied their young age.
The game was less than a minute old when Mayo opened the scoring, Cian O’Connell getting on the end of a great move to score a brilliant point. However, within a minute, Mayo had goalkeeper Brian O’Flaherty to thank after he made two point-blank saves. The first was from a Tomo Culhane effort and then he denied Charlie Power, who was first to react to the breaking ball.
But after this lightening start, both teams found it hard to find the range. Indeed, the contest had reached the 14th minute before the second score of the game arrived, a Galway point from Daniel Flaherty.
Within a minute, Mayo were back in front after midfielder Frank Irwin put the ball between the posts.
After Galway’s Dylan Brady drew the sides level in the 18th minute, there were no further score for the remainder of the half, which left Sheridan’s side much the happier as they went in for the interval break.
Although Galway led for the first and only time in the second minute of the new half after Nathan Gringer pointed a free, their lead didn’t last long.
Down the other end of the field, Cian O’Connell fired over a delightful point 60 seconds later, and two minutes after that came the crucial score when Mayo’s Jack Fallon intercepted a Galway pass before side-stepping ‘keeper James Egan and hammering the ball to the back of the net.
However, with the wind getting more difficult to judge with every minute that past, the game's next score didn’t arrive until 20 minutes later, a fine point from Mayo substitute Bob Tuohy. When Irwin followed this with a pointed free and Paddy Heneghan added a great score from play, Mayo were now six points clear with three minutes of normal time remaining.
In the closing moments Galway threw everything at Mayo and when midfielder James McLoughlin found the back of the net at the end of normal time, it left just a score between the sides.
Although Galway did manage to score another point from a free in injury time, that was as close as they got and Mayo held on for a well-deserved victory.