Mayo on the march once more in the Qualifiers but Monaghan rue refereeing calls
Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan is tackled by James Carr of Mayo during the All-Ireland SFC Qualifier at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park
Monaghan left Castlebar with a heavy cargo full of anger and regret following their loss to Mayo in the first round of the All-Ireland Qualifiers.
The Farney men were utterly frustrated by some of the calls made - and not made - by referee Barry Cassidy at each end of a hard-fought, dour battle. Of course, Mayo had no such qualms as they set of on yet another adventure through the Qualifiers – was that ever in doubt?
First Conor McManus was black-carded for what seemed like an innocuous foul on Aidan O’Shea and minutes later, the home side were awarded a penalty when Ryan Wylie blocked Oisin Mullin’s goal effort with his foot.
Both calls were probably correct, but that did little to sate the anger of the large Monaghan following in the crowd.
However, worse was to come for the Monaghan men in injury time at the end of the game. Trailing by three points, chaos ensued in the Mayo goalmouth, Conor Leonard went to ground and a penalty seemed the most likely outcome.
It wasn’t awarded and Monaghan were incensed.
Back to the start of the game - the penalty, which was awarded, to Mayo was blasted to the roof of Rory Beggan’s net by Cillian O’Connor and Mayo made hay while McManus was in the sin-bin. Monaghan had been two points clear at that stage thanks to early points from full-forward Gary Mohan, but by the time McManus came back, Mayo were 1-3 to 0-2 ahead.
Oisin Mullin enjoyed the freedom of Castlebar while McManus was in the stand and he attacked with great gusto, assisted by Paddy Durcan, Enda Hession, Diarmuid O’Connor and Eoghan McLaughlin. However, the Monaghan men dug in and with Jack McCarron to the fore they were well in contention at the interval, trailing 0-7 to 1-7, with wind advantage to come.
The third quarter was a hard watch. Both sides huffed and puffed with very little end product. Cillian O’Connor kicked Mayo four clear in the first minute of the second half, but they went another 20 minutes without raising a flag. Monaghan only managed to kick two points during this time.
The Ulster men were arguably the better team during this stagnant period but they couldn’t find the scores to reflect that fact and the Mayo half-back line repelled them time and time again. Eventually, man-of-the-match, Lee Keegan powered forward to kick Mayo three clear again after 56 minutes and Monaghan’s need for a goal was growing with every passing second. Their attacking plight was highlighted by the substitution of McManus late in the game as Darren McHale and Cillian O’Connor stretched Mayo five clear as six minutes of injury time began. However, the visitors refused to to give up. Conor Leonard and Shane Carey cut the gap to three, 0-12 to 1-12 with three minutes of injury time left to be played and then came the controversial moment.
A misplaced pass set hearts racing. Leonard gained possession, a phalanx of Mayo men descended upon him. He went to ground but no penalty was awarded. Mayo went down the field and Durcan kicked a point. Game over!
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