Risk pays off as Mahon rewards manager’s faith

GER Lyttle would have wanted to mark the first anniversary of his arrival at the Showgrounds with a win but it wasn’t to be. It wasn’t for the lack of trying however as a busy seven days for the club was capped with just a point against St Pat’s, despite what was Rovers’ best performance of the year.

The win at Markets Field against a poor Limerick side seven days previous seemed to have improved form before moving on to Cork on Tuesday night.

It was another case of being architects of our own downfall as yet again, another defensive mistake gifted the opposition the winner.

But to be fair, Cork could have had little complaint had it finished scoreless even if they had the lion’s share of both possession and chances.

The plan was clearly to go down there and frustrate City and it almost worked. John Caulfield’s men had enough possession inside the Sligo half to dominate two games.

But a mix of slowing the game to our pace, a superb stop from Mitchell Beeney early on and some last ditch defending kept the Rebels at bay.

That until, as per script, former midfielder Jimmy Keohane emerged to score the winner.

A defeat it may have been but there were plenty of positives to take from going to the home of the champions and frustrating them for so long.

Greg Moorhouse in particular looked a different player from his previous twenty or so outings in red, while Rhys McCabe and David Cawley were both an even match for a talented Cork midfield.

A subdued 3,200 home supporters sat uneasy at half-time, a clear sign Lyttle’s plan was coming along. But unfortunately, one lapse lead to the winner.

Four points from our last three games seems harsh on Rovers given the much improved performance levels which were raised again on Saturday against a Pat’s team we expected much more from.

Beeney had little to do above taking the ball from behind his goal against what must be the poorest Pat’s performance at the Showgrounds in a long time.

With both Callan-McFadden and Sharkey injured, Lyttle made a huge call in including John Mahon for what was his only his second involvement with the first team since his senior debut against Harps twelve months ago.

Between Mahon and the vi- brant Raffaele Cretaro, it would have been hard for the neutral observer on performance alone, to distinguish between who was the sprightly 18-year-old and who was the experienced veteran of 20 years.

I had expected maybe Gary Boylan to slot beside Paddy McClean and Raff to deputise at full back.

But management’s faith in young Mahon was totally justified. Superb on the ball, spatially aware and accurate and fearless in everything he did, Mahon’s debut was as good as anything we’ve seen on Church Hill.

His ability to find a man in front of him made a refreshing difference from the usual punt forward, giving the midfield ahead of him much more ability to create chances.

Ger will be faced with a genuine dilemma ahead of Waterford this Friday should either Kyle or Seamus be available for selection. Lyttle will be forced to decide whether to break up what was a solid showing from John and Paddy against Pat’s.

Impressive too was Jack Keaney on his third consecutive start. He got a little lost as both the Cork and Limerick games wore on but settled immediately into his duties on Saturday.

Keaney is likely to be called upon again at the RSC given Cawley’s suspension and the possible loss of McCabe through injury.

We’d be in even better moods this week had Adam Morgan managed to steer the ball the right side of the post late on.

Supporters, myself at the front of that line, have banged on since the start of the year about the importance of getting decent service to Adam.

The perfect ball was there, only for him to fluff his lines from three yards out.

A solid performance everywhere but where it really counted! From one important week to another huge couple of days ahead for the Bit O’Red.

A point from Waterford would be represent great takings given the strength in depth they possess, not to mention the return of a number of star players from suspension.

Next Monday’s game with Bray is a totally different game where the Showgrounds will expect a performance similar to last Saturday’s, with added ruthlessness in front of goal.

Three points, nothing less!