Mayo staring into championship abyss after shock defeat

The possibility of Mayo failing to make the cut in the knockout stages of this year’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship is staring Kevin McStay’s men in the face following a shock 1-14 to 1-17 defeat to Cavan in the opening game in Group 1 at a sun-baked Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar, writes John Melvin.

In what is a tough group, a win over Cavan seemed the best chance Mayo had of being one of the three teams to qualify, but this result – a richly deserved one by Cavan – leaves Mayo with a mountain to climb if they are to get any change from either Tyrone or Donegal, two teams that are on the shortlist as All-Ireland contenders. Mayo’s odds are lengthening as a result of this result.

Mayo didn’t just lose this game with a poor performance overall. Cavan won it with the superior scoring power, a strong defence and a solid midfield, but it must be said they were helped by Mayo’s negligence and poor use of the ball, Cavan forcing a number of turnovers and pressurising the home side into a plethora of mistakes and unforced errors. Many of them were fatal as Cavan blew Mayo wide open at the back and down the middle in particular, their counter-attacking and guerilla tactics leaving the home side exposed and vulnerable.

Those inviting gaps in the defensive trenches were exploited by Cavan, who brought their shooting boots with them, Oisin Kiernan, Cormac O’Reilly, Seán McEvoy, Dara McVeety and wing back Padraig Faulkner all kicking some tremendous scores.

The gap widened to eight points at one stage (1-17 to 0-12) but a late surge by Mayo yielded 1-2, the goal coming from Aidan O’Shea in the last minute of four added on at the end.

That late rally will do little to stem the psychological impact this defeat will have on the Mayo team and management, fans trailing out of the grounds long before the finish on a day when most of us, including this scribe, felt a solid platform would be built for making the steady progress towards the qualifiers.

The worry ahead of the clash with Tyrone is that Mayo ran out of energy and ideas, and were left chasing shadows for the last 10 minutes. The introduction of Paddy Durcan for his first appearance for Mayo in over 12 months roused the crowd, who gave him a huge reception, but Paddy, who has many gifts, can't work miracles and does not possess the power of giving new life to others, and too many Mayo players were beginning to run out of fuel at that stage – unlike Cavan, who were getting stronger and stronger.

The Mayo bench was emptied but made little if any impact, but you can’t blame the subs, who were being asked to rescue the Titanic after it had already sunk beneath the sea.

*See Tuesday's print edition for a full report and reaction