Monday, June 07, 2010
A MASSIVE clash in the last 15 minutes between captains, Trevor Mortimer and Charlie Harrison, epitomised the difference between their respective Mayo and Sligo sides on Saturday evening.
Harrison picked himself off the deck, wiped the blood from his forehead and looked ready for more. Mortimer, who incurred a yellow card for the hit, was clearly a beaten docket and soon had to limp off the field.
His removal reflected the sinking feeling of all Mayo supporters at Markievicz Park. And beyond.
The individual battles were all won by Sligo men except Noel McGuire who struggled with the impressive Alan Freeman at full forward.
Harrison in particular led by example from textbook blockdowns, to the way he swept up loose ball and broke out of defence. He, along with Eamonn O’Hara, gave real leadership to the hosts.
Hunger for victory can be analysed in many ways, and a key method is to observe who wins the breaking ball and bosses the midfield diamond.
Sligo were dominant in that sector and it was a crucial factor in their success. Tony Taylor, Stephen Gilmartin and the half-back line of Keelan Cawley, Brendan Philips and the outstanding Johnny Davey outfought Ronan McGarrity, Tom Parsons and Seamus O’Shea, who were all replaced.
Sligo collected 25 of the 42 kick-outs and incredibly in a 10-minute spell in the final quarter they won possession from six consecutive kick-outs and racked up game winning points from Gilmartin, Alan Costello and David Kelly.
Seven different Sligo players scored whereas Mayo were depending on debutant Freeman to lead the way. Conor Mortimer did hit 0-3 (1f) but he also shot four wides out of a tally of 11.
Tactically, Kevin Walsh got his moves spot on.
The decision to move O’Hara back as a sweeper to cover off the space in front of a rampant Freeman who had 1-1 on the board after only six minutes, worked splendidly.
O’Hara hoovered up a lot of ball and his breaks from deep lit a fuse of panic in the Mayo defence.
O’Hara is 34, but is in superb shape. His experience and determination for a famous win played a big role in the triumph.
He won a important free by soloing into the tackle after only 11 minutes to set up an easy point for Colm McGee and settle the team down.
O’Hara has really bought into Walsh and what he brings to the set-up and he exudes positivity and belief on the field which others feed off.
Sligo had readymade solutions, thought out beforehand to any problem that arose. John O’Mahony on the other hand was slow making changes and even when fresh legs arrived there were question marks and quizzed faces around me in the crowd. Was Billy Joe Padden – who was Mayo’s first sub – really going to turn things around for them? Were Enda Varley, Trevor Mortimer, the disappointing Tom Parsons and even McGarrity left on too long? Why was Keith Higgins not switched over to try and curtail the rampant Kelly who roasted Donal Vaughan from the throw-in?
Particularly after Vaughan picked up a yellow card. Kelly was magnificent and he scored three tremendous points from play in the second half, two in the closing minutes when Vaughan had to stand off him for fear of a lonely walk.
The worst thing from a Mayo perspective was that their team looked listless and leaderless. The body language of most of the team going into the home stretch was revealing and signals major issues that cannot be glossed over.
Only full-forward Alan Freeman could hold his hand up in their dressing room and say he won his individual battle and showed the right stuff. Elsewhere they were cleaned out and it was ironic to see former Mayo panellist Alan Costello score two sublime points to kill off any hopes Mayo had of seeing extra-time.
It is impossible to see how Mayo and John O’Mahony can recover from this and make a burst in the qualifiers. Alan Dillon (injured) was a big loss, but from the talk on the terraces and the poor Mayo support on the day, things are not good in the county.
On the flip side, Sligo look like a team that can reach the All-Ireland quarter-final. Their corner backs, Harrison and Ross O’Donovan were fantastic all through, Cawley and Davey on the wings were immense and Tony Taylor and Stephen Gilmartin who both scored from play have grown in stature enormously in the last few months.
Up front, Kelly is the jewel and I hope he gets to play in Croke Park again this season. He has stunning pace, tremendous skill and no corner back in Ireland would fancy 70 minutes in his company.
Joe Kernan who was at the game, will realise his Galway side have it all to do to stop Sligo in Pearse Stadium in three weeks’ time. Sligo possess belief, momentum, a bloody great attitude and some damn fine players. If Charlie Harrison had not gone off injured in last year’s clash, they could have beaten Galway.
They expect to avenge that loss on June 27.
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