TRIBESMEN TOPS IN WESTERN SHOOTOUT
Mayo pay penalty as Tribesmen underline power shift out west
IT MAY have come down to penalties in yesterday’s FBD League semi-final at Tuam, but James Horan is unlikely to be hoodwinked into believing that is the true measure of the gap between Connacht’s big two.
Even though fortune favoured the home team in that it took Barry McHugh’s goal, profiting from Michael Daly’s punt in the 73rd minute, to buy them a ticket to the spot-kick lottery in the first place, and it was Mayo’s two most experienced players, Andy Moran and Diarmuid O’Connor, whose kicks were saved by Maghnus Breathnach, there is no disputing who is top dog in the west now.
Nothing should serve to remind Horan how the football order has been flipped on its head in his four-year absence quite like this fixture.
In his first stint in charge of the Westerners, Galway were not rivals, just roadkill lined up for his viewing pleasure. Horan did not just beat Galway, he humiliated them, winning all three Championship games in his first shift by an average of 10 points per game.
For the last three years, Galway have pulled the Championship rug from beneath Mayo’s feet. Last year’s League win means that Kevin Walsh has won six competitive games on the bounce against the team who tormented his county earlier this decade.
Make no mistake, if Horan is back to make good on getting the team he built over the All-Ireland line, the first thing he must do is answer the Galway question.
That might explain why they came in their droves here — an excess of 6,000 clicked through the turnstiles — but the early indications are that the gap between Connacht’s Old Firm has, if anything, widened in the close season.
Horan’s greatest challenge, one which was beyond the two management teams that occupied the Mayo hotseat following his departure in 2014, is to develop a squad with the depth that can provide comfort for a starting team with a rapidly climbing age profile.
In contrast, he finds that Walsh is in charge of a team that has only just graduated from finishing school; one which has banked bigday Croke Park experience in reaching an Allianz League final and All-Ireland semi-final last year.
Worse, as Horan goes in search of new talent that no one is truly convinced even exists — though he will find some comfort from the promise shown by rookie Conor Diskin, whose impact extended beyond the two points he recorded yesterday — the selection ball continues to bounce kindly for Walsh.
Without even taking out a shovel to start digging, the likelihood is that, of all whom were on show here, Walsh has unearthed three new players who could potentially become season-changing players this season.
The promise that Liam Silke will commit to Galway once Corofin’s All-Ireland campaign concludes will be significant given his stature as the top defender in the club game, and the return of Cillian McDaid from the AFL provides glittering quality at either end of the field he did not have last year.
And above all, if he can get Michael Daly, dogged by injury last year, back to full fitness then the rest of the world might just get to see why the son of county legend Val is regarded as one of the most exciting talents in the country right now.
He singlehandedly changed the flow of this contest when replacing Michael Farragher in the 49th minute. Outside of his ball-winning presence, he kicked a point, rattled the Mayo post with a goal effort and provided the assist for the match-saving goal.
Put simply, Mayo simply don’t have anyone of that quality to pull from the pack, unless somehow Tom Parsons finds a way back from his horror injury.
As for the game itself, it defied a heavy pitch and the light dusting of confusion which is the legacy of the experimental rules.
That said, as Galway creaked with rust in their first outing of the season, Mayo bristled with purpose.
Horan’s men looked more comfortable with the change of rules, two of their first half-points, from Diskin and Jason Doherty, gleamed from offensive marks.
The downside to that rule is that the latter was denied a clear goal chance after he was called back for a mark which he had not called for by referee Patrick Neilan.
And the challenge facing referees in applying the three hand-pass rule was made clear when, over the course of the game, he blew for four out of eight breaches.
In the end, Doherty got the goal he deserved in the 28th minute, albeit assisted by Declan Kyne’s failure to judge the bounce of Michael Plunkett’s hopeful centre, which left Mayo leading by 1-5 to 0-3 at the interval.
In the end, though, a dominant Galway found their way back into the game at the death and their flawless penalty taking — Tom Flynn converting the one which mattered most — booked them a final date with Roscommon next weekend. GALWAY: M Breathnach; D Kyne, S A Ó Ceallaigh, L Silke; K Molloy (S Kelly 42), J Daly (E Kerin 61), D Wall (G O’Donnell 52); K Duggan (P Cooke ht), T Flynn; C McDaid, M Farragher (M Daly 49), J Heaney; F Burke, M Boyle, B McHugh Black cards: F Burke (21) G O’Donnell (70+5) Yellow cards: C McDaid (61), P Cooke (70+1) Scorers: B McHugh 1-6 (0-4f, 0-1 45), J Daly 0-2 (1f), M Daly 0-1. MAYO: R Hennelly; K Higgins, B Harrison, D Drake (J Kelly 70+3); C Boyle, M Plunkett, J McCormack (S Coen 54); D Vaughan, D O’Connor; F McDonagh, C Loftus (A Moran ht), F Boland (C O’Shea 48); D Diskin, B Reape, J Doherty (L Keegan, 64). Black cards: D Vaughan (39) Yellow cards: K Higgins (42) Scorers: J Doherty 1-4 (0-3f, 0-1 mark), B Reape 0-3, C Diskin 0-2 (1 mark). Referee: P Neilan (Roscommon)