Derry 'made it hard' for themselves in Mayo win says Mickey Harte
HARD WORK: Derry manager Mickey Harte during their win over Mayo. Pic Credit: Laszlo Geczo, Inpho.
If you were looking for a game to give you value for money yesterday, then this rollercoaster of a league match in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park was the place to be.
Derry looked to hold all the aces at half-time when they were six points up, and when Conor McCluskey lashed in a goal nine minutes after the restart, Mayo seemed a beaten docket.
Mickey Harte’s well-structured units are not in the habit of losing nine point leads, especially a team as experienced as this Derry outfit, so the argument seemed settled heading into the last quarter. It was 3-11 to 1-8 at that stage.
Few in the crowd of 9,373 spectators who had skipped the local parades had reckoned on Mayo’s powers of recovery kicking in on a day when they seemed out of sorts.
But even without team leaders like Paddy Durcan, Eoghan McLaughlin and the O’Connor brothers, the Westerners came roaring back into contention when all seemed lost.
A goal from substitute Paul Towey with his first touch in the 56th minute kickstarted the comeback, with points arriving from all angles courtesy of Aaron McDonnell, Ryan O’Donoghue, Colm Reape (via a ‘45) and the lively Towey.
By the 62nd minute Derry’s lead had been sliced to two points and all bets were off.
The excitement was at fever pitch as Kevin McStay’s enigmatic team looked set to pull off an ambush, but Derry held their nerve and late points from All Stars Conor Glass and Shane McGuigan, along with two neat scores from Niall Toner, sealed a deserved victory.
“We made it hard for ourselves because when we were nine points up, fifteen minutes into the second half, I thought we might have had an easier end to our day,” smiled Mickey Harte afterwards. “But it proved otherwise. I’m just delighted to get the win.
“We put together some good play and put up a fairly decent lead by half-time,” he added.
“We figured we’d have to add more to that to keep Mayo at arm’s length, and we probably got away too well, too early, in the second half. And then took our foot off the pedal.” The Ulster champions made most of the running in the first half and goals from Niall Loughlin and Shane McGuigan put them in the driving seat.
Derry were ahead by 2-7 to 1-4 at half-time and a brilliant goal from defender Conor McCluskey nine minutes after the restart was a big blow to Mayo’s hopes of avoiding a third defeat of an erratic campaign.
But Paul Towey’s opportunistic goal threw Mayo a lifeline and they went down fighting, despite having little to play for in the greater scheme of things.
‘We were a little bit off it in the third quarter and they built a significant lead, but credit to the Mayo lads they kept at it and tried to generate a few goal chances, and we did very well in that regard,” said Mayo boss Kevin McStay.
“We brought it back from nine points to two points with a great effort by the boys, in fairness.
“But I think in an overall sense, Derry were the better team and I wouldn’t try and argue otherwise. But we got plenty out of it too.” Derry had led at half-time by 2-7 to 1-4 after completely dominating the second quarter.
They racked up 1-4 and held Mayo scoreless in the final sixteen minutes of the half as their slick counter-attacking game opened up the homeside’s defence.
Ace attacker Shane McGuigan finished the half with 1-4 while Niall Loughlin also netted from close-range after a cross from McGuigan.
Mayo’s goal came less than sixty seconds after Loughlin’s from Jordan Flynn who fired a rocket past Derry ‘keeper Odhran Lynch in the 12th minute.
The impressive Tommy Conroy notched a point in the 23rd minute that put Mayo ahead by 1-4 to 1-3 but turned out to be their last score of the half.
Derry kept the scoreboard ticking at the other end with classy scores from Shane McGuigan (free), Ciaran McFaul and Padraig McGrogan to get their noses in front.
Things got even better on 32 minutes when Ethan Doherty intercepted a poor kick-out from Colm Reape and McGuigan fired the ball to the Mayo net.
Derry looked set to freewheel to victory when they raced ahead by 3-11 to 1-8 after 49 minutes, but Mayo rolled their sleeves up and unleashed a series of power-plays to set up a grandstand finish.
Fittingly, the final score of a frantic game went to Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea who was making his 100th appearance in the National League.
P Towey (1-1), J Flynn (1-0), R O’Donoghue (0-3, 2fs), C Reape (0-2,1f, ‘45), A O’Shea (0-2, 1f), A McDonnell, S Callinan, J Carney, F Boland, T Conroy (0-1 each).
S McGuigan (1-6, 3fs), C McCluskey and N Loughlin (1-0 each), N Toner (0-3), D Baker, G McKinless, P McGrogan, C Glass, E Doherty, C McFaul (0-1 each).
C Reape; A McDonnell, R Brickenden, S Callinan; D McHugh, S Coen, E Hession; J Carney, M Ruane; B Tuohy, F Boland, J Flynn; A O’Shea, T Conroy, R O’Donoghue.
C Loftus for Tuohy (44); J Coyne for Hession (47); P Towey for Boland (55); F Kelly for McDonnell (65); K Quinn for Loftus (67, inj).
O Lynch; C McCluskey, C McKaigue, D Baker; G McKinless, E McEvoy, P McGrogan; C Glass, B Rogers; E Dohert, C McFaul, Paul Cassidy; N Loughlin, S McGuigan, L Murray.
N Toner for Loughlin (HT); D Gilmore for McKinless (41); C Murphy for Murray (45).
S Lonergan (Tipperary).
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