Mayo defeat New York by 15 points in Gaelic Park clash

Mayo have defeated New York by 15 points after running out comfortable 221 to 2-06 winners in Gaelic Park on Sunday evening, April 7.

A superb display from Mayo forward Ryan O'Donoghue, who finished with 113, proved crucial in a one-sided Con‐ nacht SFC quarterfinal in the Bronx. Second-half goals from Frank O'Reilly and Jamie Boyle gave the packed Gaelic Park crowd something to cheer about, but Mayo raised the last green flag of the afternoon.

New York held their own early on, con‐ trolling a large portion of possession in the opening quarter and denying Mayo any real space to attack.

Mayo, however, looked comfortable, keeping New York at arm's length around the middle of the field and deny‐ ing any real scoring chances.

It was Mayo who opened the scoring af‐ ter three minutes when O'Donoghue tapped over a simple free after a long period of New York possession broke down. An under-hit kick out from Joey Grace saw Paddy Durcan break through on goal, but the Mayo captain saw his effort crash off the inside of the post. New York leveled matters three minutes later through the excellent Killian Butler, who fielded a mishit Joey Grace free and hooked a shot over the bar to the delight of the Gaelic Park crowd.

The Exiles remained honest in the open‐ ing quarter, controlling much of the pos‐ session and finding a lot of joy with di‐ rect balls into Butler. They could not add to their solitary point, however, with Mayo continuing to restrict them to speculative efforts from range. Mayo regained the lead through O'‐ Donoghue, who collected an Aidan O'Shea pass on the loop and curled over his first point from play.

O'Shea, playing in a record-setting 185th intercounty game for Mayo, ex‐ tended the lead with a free moments later before another short-range O'‐ Donoghue free pushed the lead out to three points after 15 minutes. O'Donoghue curled over another effort from play to leave four points between the teams, which was quickly canceled out by Butler, who fielded a magnificent diagonal ball from Rob Wharton before pointing on the turn.

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He almost repeated the trick seconds later, but saw his effort drift narrowly wide.

That seemed to kick Mayo into life, with O'Donoghue cutting inside for the first goal of the game after some excellent work from Eoghan McLaughlin. Mayo - and O'Donoghue - didn't look back, putting the game out of New York's reach in a ruthless display of fin‐ ishing.

The Westerners added six points before the break, with O'Donoghue kicking five more points to take his first tally to 109 and leave 12 points between the teams at the break. O'Donoghue started the second half as he left off, drawing in a magnificent score, which was canceled out by an equally impressive effort from New York's Rob Wharton. O'Donoghue (free) and Paddy Durcan tapped over simple points to extend

Mayo's lead to 14 before Frank O'Reilly crashed home New York's first goal of the day after Butler fielded yet another diagonal ball.

Points from O'Donoghue, Darren McHale, and Fergal Boland canceled out that goal, but New York were in again moments later when captain Jamie Boyle collected a Liam Kearney pass and slammed to the net to raise a second green flag of the afternoon.

Again, however, Mayo canceled out that goal moments later with a three-pointer of their own after Paul Towey broke through the New York defense and was upended in the large square. Cillian O'‐ Connor converted the penalty.

With the result beyond doubt, the game began to peter out, with Mayo missing a host of goal chances in the final 10 min‐ utes.

There were plenty of positives for New York ahead of their Tailteann Cup cam‐ paign, notably the performance of Frank O'Reilly, who finished with 1-02, and Kil‐ lian Butler.

The Exiles will head for Ireland in June for the Tailteann Cup, while Mayo prepare for a Connacht SFC semi-final date with Roscommon on April 21.