Sligo put in a brave performance
FIRST things first, this was not a nine point defeat with Mayo very flattered by the score line.
History will show this result but it won’t tell the full story as Sligo not given a chance even by those within the county put in a very brave performance.
To put it in perspective I met two people during the week who travelled to New York but decided that 80 km to Castlebar was too much compared to the 5000 km across the Atlantic such was the lack of belief.
People will say Mayo were poor but other people will say that Sligo made them poor and frustrated them.
I probably agree a little with both sides.
Mayo, one of four real contenders for Sam, looked beatable and we at times exploited many frailties to their game plan.
The game started very positively with a couple of wonder points from Stephen Coen to settle early nerves but Mayo started to close the space and started to put the Sligo players under pressure in the second quarter of the game, not allowing us the same level of time on the ball.
The big turning point came in the guise of a goal that shouldn’t have been allowed. If there was a technical referee as there is in rugby both Mayo goals would have been disallowed, firstly Diarmuid O’Connor ran eight steps before he got his shot off for the first and if you rewind 15 seconds before this you will see Patrick Durcan double hopping the ball which should have been a free at a crucial stage to Sligo before half time. This score was the critical score in the game with Sligo chasing the game from this point, as at 65 minutes the score was 1.10 to 10 with this illegitimate goal the difference, which changes everything. For the second goal if we give Conor Loftus the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t lift off the ground then it should have been still disallowed as Cillian O’Connor was in the square before Loftus released the ball.
I didn’t watch the half time comments but from what I’m told Pat Spillane was critical of Sligo in that we didn’t want to win the game.
I have to say this was a ridiculous comment as Sligo were doing exactly what they needed to do in order to stay in the game.
They were giving themselves a chance to go for it at the right time and were in the perfect position up until that turning- point goal and even was still in it despite this with five minutes to go.
I felt defensively we did very well with Brendan Egan playing one of his best games ever at centre- back where he physically held Mayo up on a number of occasions.
Ross and Charlie also had great games but the only problem here is that these three players have a combined age of over 100 which means they aren’t going to be around much longer.
The other three lads Neil, Keelan and Eoin never stopped working in addition to driving the game forward.
Paddy O’Connor for a player so young showed a maturity well beyond his years in such an important position and was not one bit fazed by his much vaunted opponents.
Once again his midfield partner Adrian McIntyre playing with a broken thumb was outstanding and was well complemented by his club mate Johnny Kelly who was all over the pitch.
The testament of the forwards’ work rate was the lack of influence of players such as Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle and Keith Higgins, none having their usual games of bombing forward at every opportunity.
The down side of this was a lot of energy was expended which curtailed our own scoring abilities. Tactically Niall Carew and management got things correct in my mind, they did what they had to do, frustrate Mayo from playing their game, making sure what happened two years ago wasn’t repeated, staying in the game giving us a chance up to five minutes from the end and leaving everything on the pitch.
The goal before halftime was worth more than three points as it changed both teams’ half time talks. It gave Mayo a lift heading for the dressing room with Sligo heads slightly down as all their good work was undone somewhat by goal that shouldn’t have been. It gave Mayo a cushion that we never clawed back in what was a very brave performance by Sligo. What really impressed me about the Sligo performance was that every player was looking to take on responsibility and get on the ball. This was also evidenced with Stephen Coen disappointed to be taken off as he had done very well and wanted more of the action. I could understand Carew’s thinking as sometimes you need to change tactically even though it’s a chicken and egg situation in that we needed players to score but we also needed to freshen things up and try to get the ball through running into the scoring zone against what was a very strong wind, with Kevin McDonnell having an impact when coming in. I feel this performance will give Sligo a lot of confidence heading into the qualifiers which we have always embraced and hopefully we will have many more adventures this summer.
MAYO, ONE OF FOUR REAL CONTENDERS FOR SAM, LOOKED BEATABLE AND WE AT TIMES EXPLOITED MANY FRAILTIES TO THEIR GAME PLAN.