Mayo show some forward thinking
Not anymore.
In the first half yesterday they launched 50 and 60 yard scud missiles down on top of both Aidan O’Shea and Barry Moran. With the wind at their backs they just bombed the ball in, and the ploy was highly effective.
No matter what defensive tactics you have, it is hard to defend a long high ball from distance, especially if you have two big men converging on the edge of the square.
Mayo scored 1-9 in the first half with all the front eight contributing and they played very attractive and direct football.
Moran’s flicked goal was a crucial score and it came from a big delivery from way out the field.
Allied to that they have a dynamic and hardworking half-forward line with Alan Dillon and Trevor Mortimer both in great form.
Dillon’s two points in the first half were important scores and his second was a terrific effort.
They have good pace, a terrific workrate and they follow the ball in very quickly so the opposition half-backs have to be extremely alert to stop their threat.
* Mayo have a much stronger bench than Galway
CONOR Mortimer came on yesterday and scored 1-2. He may get on a lot of people’s wick, but he knows where the posts are and with 15 or 20 minutes to go, he can come in and hurt teams. Likewise Donal Vaughan came on at half-time yesterday and did well.
Tom Parsons is a very fine fielder and offers good cover for Heaney and McGarrity at midfield while Tom Cunniffe, their regular centre-back during the league, is another option that John O’Mahony can call on if required.
The bottom line is that they have cover for most of their key positions and there is a lot of competition in their panel. When Niall Coyne had to go off for Galway, Liam Sammon changed three lines to replace him. That was crazy stuff and former All Star Kieran Fitzgerald seemed the obvious candidate to come on in a straight swap.
Instead we had the bizarre decision of moving Gareth Bradshaw to corner back, Gary Sice to wing-back from wing-forward and Fiachra Breathnach being introduced. To add insult to injury for Sammon, Breathnach made no impact. To win the big prizes, teams need real live options on the bench. Mayo appear to have them, Galway don’t.
* Mayo must be more ambitious and ruthless when they see the opposition’s jugular
WITH ten minutes to go, Mayo led by 2-11 to 0-10 and were in complete control.
They should have pushed on from there and maybe won by nine or ten points. Instead John O’Mahony placed Mark Ronaldson (a corner forward by trade) as an extra sweeper in front of his full back line and invited Galway to come at them.
Galway did so and scored 1-4 without reply. Indeed when Michael Meehan whipped in his late goal it looked like we were all off to McHale Park next weekend.
Had Mayo stayed doing what they were doing, they would have been far better off and their keep ball tactics near the end was suicidal stuff. It almost cost them the win.
Attack is the best form of defence and they started to “mind the house” far too early and almost paid the price. They will need to be more assertive and aggressive in the quarter-finals.
I bet the Connacht Council and the Mayo county board who are currently finishing off a massive new stand in McHale Park won’t be sending referee John Bannon any Christmas or thank you cards for not blowing up on the kick-out after Meehan’s goal and guaranteeing them an additional €600,000 payday next weekend. With an attendance of 25,627 in Pearse Stadium yesterday at €25 and €35 a pop, and you’d have more at the replay. Do the math. A referee’s lot is never easy. Damned if you do. And damned if you don’t.
