Late rally sees Mayo overcome Sligo in FBD League
New Mayo senior football manager Andy Moran got a win in his first competitive outing when his charges defeated a dogged Sligo by 1-17 to 1-11 in the first round of the FBD League in front of almost 2,000 spectators in Fr. O’Hara Memorial Park, Charlestown, writes Aiden Henry.
In what was an entertaining game played on a pitch that was in pristine condition, Mayo had to rely on a late rally to get the better of their neighbours.
For long periods Sligo looked to be on course for a surprise victory but, in the final quarter, a combination of new players off the bench for Mayo and tiredness among the Yeats County players saw Moran’s charges, who trailed by five points in the 41st minute, come good to claim a six-point victory.
Indeed, for the final 18 minutes plus the three minutes of added time, Mayo outscored their opponents by 1-9 to 0-1.
The Mayo management used this outing to give a number of new players the opportunity to stake a claim for a place on the National League squad. Many of them made the most of their chance and no doubt will be given further opportunities in the FBD League to show what they are capable of. Among the eye-catching performers were Eoin McGreal, Nathan Moran, Darragh Beirne, Cathal Keaveney, Liam Donoghue, Tom Lydon and Diarmuid Duffy.
Mayo started the game in good fashion and led by 0-5 to 0-1 after seven minutes. Goalkeeper Robbie Hennelly and Bob Tuohy kicked two-pointers either side of a Kuba Callaghan point from play. Although Hennelly would land another two-pointer from a free and Darragh Beirne scored from play before the break, it was Sligo who controlled most of the rest of the half, putting a further goal and five points on the scoreboard.
The goal, a fine effort by Paul Kilcoyne, and a two-pointer from Lee Deignan were the standout scores, and at half-time Sligo were leading by a point, 1-6 to 0-8.
On the resumption, Sligo continued to dominate and after they scored the first four points of the second half to lead by five, it looked as if Moran’s first competitive game in charge of Mayo would be a losing one.
However, once new players were sprung from the bench, everything changed. Sligo, who lost the influential Paul Kilcoyne and Darragh Cummins, saw control of the game slip away and Mayo began to eat into their opponents' lead with some brilliant points from Beirne, Michael Plunkett, Cathal Keaveney (two brilliant efforts), Cian McHale (two), Ryan O’Donoghue (two) and Tom Lydon.
In the middle of all those points, Enda Hession scored a magnificent goal in the 57th minute after receiving an inch-perfect pass from O’Donoghue to put Mayo back in front and send them on their way to victory.