Battle out west won by Mayo’s sharpshooters
It’s as if the teams in Division 1 are trying to send Jim Gavin and company a message about whether Gaelic football really needs a new review committee.
As a test case, the top flight is doing just fine, producing a much higher goal rate than the same point of the competition last year and providing plenty of quality and entertainment.
The first half of Mayo against Roscommon at MacHale Park was close to exhibition stuff, at least in terms of point scoring. If it wasn’t Diarmuid Murtagh, it was Ryan O’Donoghue or Donie Smith. Even Mayo goalkeeper Colm Reape was bending the ball over the bar with the outside of the boot.
The earlier televised game that went out on RTÉ between Derry and Dublin had much to commend it too.
It wasn’t Mayo’s fault then that the second half proved unexpectedly one-sided.
‘The job is to put a bit of air back into the balloon,’ said manager Kevin McStay beforehand and it was back flying high by the end of the evening.
A third quarter fade-out proved so costly for Roscommon after Mayo went in at the interval with the slenderest of 0-7 to 0-6 leads.
It was hard then to imagine Mayo hitting the next seven scores to put the game to bed but that’s exactly what they did as Roscommon went 22 minutes without adding to their total.
Eoghan McLoughlin was like a human dynamo down the left wing and put Roscommon on the back foot. Worryingly for the winners, he had to pull up with what looked like a hamstring strain after causing havoc.
Donnacha McHugh was another who cut a rampaging presence, driving through at full pelt twice to kick two impressive scores.
Add in a number of Ryan O’Donoghue efforts and that was that.
Following back-to-back defeats, Mayo started like a team with a point to prove. Fergal Boland showed a lovely sidestep to slip inside his man and score in the opening minutes before goalkeeper Reape then showed the way by hitting a cracking score from deep.
Already Mayo were playing at a much higher tempo than the last day against Tyrone. And much more direct too. That much was obvious when two quick kick passes allowed Ryan O’Donoghue to get out in front of his man, turn and finish over the bar.
The same player just needs half a yard to get his kick away and he did just that two minutes later to point a second time.
The quality of the scoretaking really was top drawer. From both sides. If Colm Reape and Stephen Coen’s outside of the boot efforts had a touch of showmanship about them for Mayo, so too had pretty much each and every Roscommon point. Diarmuid Murtagh curled over twice while Daire Cregg and Donie Smith both hit old style points on the run from out the field that kept Roscommon in touch.
From 0-6 to 0-2 and under the cosh, that all helped Roscommon claw it back to within two.
For all of Mayo’s early running, Roscommon took a lot of heart from those inspiring scores and carved out the only goal chances of the half.
The first fell to James Fitzpatrick but Rory Brickenden got a hand in to intercept. Then three minutes before the break, Enda Smith nearly lobbed the wandering Reape ibut he ran back to deflect the ball out for a 45.
His opposite number Conor Carroll stroked over the deadball to leave it Mayo 0-7 Roscommon 0-6 at the break.
Boland repeated his trick of scoring soon after the restart and in keeping with the pattern of the first half, by virtue of just bringing a bit more intensity and higher tempo, Mayo suddenly went bounding clear.
It took them only until the 48th minute to go double scores ahead, 0-12 to 0-6.
And without doing anything really special apart from running hard at the Roscommon defence and kicking three straightforward frees from resultant fouls with McLoughlin and McHugh to the fore.
Substitute Conor Cox finally added to Roscommon’s tally in the 57th minute but the tempo of the match had dropped off by then.
That second-half fall-off will give Roscommon manager Davy Burke cause for concern. In the final two rounds, Roscommon host Kerry and then travel to Celtic Park to face a Derry team that might already have one foot in a final.
Mayo for their part host Derry before rounding off their campaign away to Monaghan.
At this point, the defending champions haven’t given up their crown just yet, now lying second in the table on points difference.