Colm Reape stars as Mayo claim Division 1 title with win over Galway

SAFE HANDS: Colm Reape and the Mayo players celebrate with the cup after the Allianz Football League Division 1 final against Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

MAYO 0-14 GALWAY 0-11 

Mayo goalkeeper Colm Reape was the hero as the county claimed their second Division 1 title in four years, their 13th in total, in Croke Park Sunday evening.

Attended by a 45,041 crowd, Reape made four saves and scored three points in a free-ridden game which Mayo led from start to finish.

Mayo didn’t score from play from the 16th minute until the first minute of additional time but it meant nothing as they were convincing winners ahead of their Connacht opener against Roscommon next Sunday.

Three times in the second half Galway were a hair’s breadth away from their neighbours but couldn’t square it. A Robert Finnerty brace had Galway breathing down Mayo’s necks in the third quarter but they were thankful for a couple of denials in the 46th minute as Seán Kelly first stopped a Jordan Flynn strike at goal and Galway goalkeeper Connor Gleeson kept out James Carr.

The consequence to the scoreboard was Reape picked off his second 45 and after Walsh cancelled it out with one of his own Mayo’s last line of defence saved a Matthew Tierney shot when Peter Cooke delivered the ball inside.

Mayo followed it up with two further Ryan O’Donoghue points and while Walsh responded Reape was again able to keep out Damien Comer’s 55th minute attempt. Peter Cooke brought Galway within a point but substitute Tommy Conroy won two frees, which O’Donoghue duly sent over, and Jack Coyne slotted over an insurance point.

Mayo didn’t score for 24 minutes of the first half, five of them admittedly taken up by an injury that would eventually end Johnny Heaney’s involvement, but they were still three points to the good at the break, 0-8 to 0-5.

Their start had been sparkling. Aidan O’Shea’s foot passing was parting the Galway cover, O’Donoghue was giving John McGrath his fill of it while Jack Coyne was bettering Robert Finnerty at the other end. Diarmuid O’Connor’s cover work was exemplary.

The first three scores in the opening eight minutes came Mayo’s way, goalkeeper Reape exploiting a free drawn by O’Donoghue from McGrath, Carr kicking over a speculative effort and O’Donoghue penalising a foul on Jack Carney.

After Reape denied John Maher in the ninth minute, Galway captain Kelly, who initiated the attack, followed up the goal opportunity to fist the ball over the bar. However, Mayo responded with another hat-trick of unanswered points: O’Donoghue catching a low mark from O’Shea and pointing it, Patrick Durcan taking receipt of a Carney pass to bisect the posts and Flynn made it 0-6 to 0-1 in the 16th minute after O’Donoghue beat McGrath once more.

Two Walsh frees steadied Galway even though the latter of them in the 29th minute followed Heaney’s injury when he collided with Reape after kicking a ball narrowly wide having been put into the position by John Daly, a foul that earned Reape a booking.

Walsh kicked his first from play after a lot of recycling play and Maher’s tidy finish from an acute angle two minutes into injury time brought Galway within one.

O’Donoghue’s second converted free ended Mayo’s barren spell and Reape stepped up to send over his second a minute later when O’Shea was illegitimately tackled.

Scorers for Mayo: R. O’Donoghue (0-7, 5 frees, 2 marks); C. Reape (0-3, 2 frees, 1 45); J. Carr, P. Durcan, J. Flynn, J. Coyne (0-1 each).

Scorers for Galway: S. Walsh (0-5, 2 frees, 1 45); R. Finnerty (0-2, 1 mark); S. Kelly, J. Maher, P. Cooke, T. Culhane (0-1 each).

MAYO: C. Reape; S. Callinan, D. McBrien, J. Coyne; S. Coen, C. Loftus, P. Durcan (c); M. Ruane, D. O’Connor; F. McDonagh, J. Carney; J. Flynn; A. O’Shea, J. Carr, R. O’Donoghue.

Subs: E. McLaughlin for D. McBrien (h-t); T. Conroy for J. Carr (56); M. Plunkett for F. McDonagh (66); B. Tuohy for M. Ruane (70); P. O’Hora for J. Coyne (70+3).

GALWAY: C. Gleeson; J. McGrath, S. Fitzgerald, S. Kelly (c); D. McHugh, J. Daly, C. Hernon; P. Conroy, J. Maher; M. Tierney, J. Heaney, P. Cooke; R. Finnerty, S. Walsh, C. Sweeney.

Subs: D. Comer for J. Heaney (inj 33); J. Glynn for C. Hernon (h-t); T. Culhane for R. Finnerty (62); D. O’Flaherty for C. Sweeney (65); D. Conneely for P. Conroy (70+2).

Referee: B. Cawley (Kildare).