After their disappointment in the Connacht final, Mayo have managed to regain their footing, coming out on top against Cavan in the opening round of the All-Ireland SFC group stages in Castlebar this Saturday. Despite facing relentless pressures leading into this challenging match, Mayo’s performance served to compensate for their previous shortcoming.
Kevin McStay’s Mayo team led throughout the game, leaving no room for the Cavan team to edge forward. The fitness of the teams is still under scrutiny, though the unrelenting efficiency in Mayo’s performance has raised eyebrows.
Unable to leveraging their ace forward Paddy Lynch due to injury, Cavan’s offensive approach seemed spiritless more often than not. The deficiency in possession also eliminated any chances of putting the Mayo team under pressure.
The Mayo team began with a rush, leading 0-5 to 0-0 in the initial 14 minutes having successfully netted all their first eight attempts. A stark difference in their attack from their match against Galway in Salthill was noticed, where they showed more dynamism and purpose in their offence.
The outstanding performances of Darren McHale and Cillian O’Connor vindicated their selections, as they both contributed a point each. Matthew Ruane added two more points which could have been goals. Point contributions from Ryan O’Donoghue (three, with two frees), Eoghan McLaughlin, and Jack Carney also helped in fortifying the scoreline.
Only at the 15th minute could Cavan manage to score through Oisín Brady’s free. With Oisín Kiernan from Denn marking their score of the half, and points from Ciarán Brady and another from Oisín Brady free, they closed the first half with a score of 0-9 to 0-5 in favour of Mayo. However, they still found themselves significantly behind.
The slim hopes of Cavan making a comeback were dashed by the end of the third quarter when Mayo overtook them 0-5 to 0-1. Contributions from O’Donoghue, Cillian O’Connor, Stephen Coen, Ruane and substitute Conor Loftus sealed the match in favour of Mayo.
In the 59th minute, Oisín Kiernan of Denn gave Cavan a much-needed goal, but Mayo managed to maintain a lead of six points thereafter. Cillian O’Connor and O’Donoghue swiftly added two points for Mayo, putting the result beyond doubt.
As the match drew towards its conclusion, Mayo brought on their captain, Paddy Durcan, who had been sidelined due to an injury, and Aidan O’Shea. Cavan, on the other hand, made four substitutions by minute 47, but none were able to invigorate the team.
Despite Sam Callinan, the centre half back for Mayo, receiving a late black card, it didn’t obstruct the team’s performance. Yet there are concerns about Durcan’s late game injury, the severity of which Mayo team hopes isn’t much.
For their upcoming match, Mayo will be visiting Roscommon, a rematch of this season’s Connacht semi-final. Cavan’s next fixture doesn’t promise to be any easier as they will be hosting the current All-Ireland champions, Dublin.
The teams for the match were as follows:
For MAYO: C Reape, J Coyne, D McBrien, D McHugh, E McLaughlin (0-1), S Callinan, S Coen (0-1), M Ruane (0-3), D O’Connor, J Carney (0-1), D McHale (0-2), J Flynn, T Conroy, C O’Connor (0-4), R O’Donoghue (0-7, 0-4f). Substitutes included C Loftus (0-1) for McHugh, B Tuohy for Carney (both at 49 mins), P Durcan for McLaughlin, A O’Shea for Conroy (both at 56), P Towey for Ruane (63 mins).
For CAVAN: G O’Rourke, B O’Connell, K Brady, C Reilly, P Faulkner, N Carolan, C Brady, C Rehill, O Kiernan (Denn, 1-1), J McLoughlin, Ciarán Brady (0-1), Oisín Kiernan (Castlerahan), O Brady (0-5, 0-5f), J Smith, G Smith.
Substitutions were made in this order: T Madden, scoring 0-1, was swapped for K Brady at 20 minutes; L Fortune replaced Rehill at 30 minutes; C Madden came in for Carolan at half-time; C O’Reilly took O Kieran’s (from Castlerahan)position at 47 minutes; and finally, D Lovett came on for Conor Brady at the 66th minute. The game was officiated by D Coldrick from Meath.