Mayo 0-12 Sligo 0-10
For the second time in three years, Sligo supporters will come away from a Connacht final wondering what might have been, after their side was narrowly beaten by Mayo in a dogfight of match. Mayo's performance is sure to be picked apart in the media over the coming days, but in reality, more credit needs to be assigned to the Yeatsmen, and the way they went about their task of disrupting the defending provincial champions. Mayo struggled in front of the posts all afternoon, yet the had a couple of players who stood up to the task in the closing minutes and they were well worth their win.
This match may not have been the most entertaining one for viewers, but despite the lack of scores, there was certainly no lack of intensity. Sligo, in particular, came out very hungry and were tenacious early on. They defend in packs and caused numerous turnovers, with the Mayo attack struggling to get any flow to their play. For all their shortcomings on the scoreboard though, Mayo had already, by this early stage. taken control of the game in the middle of the park. The Yeats county were struggling to get good possession in their forwards, and seemed only a matter of time before Mayo would make their dominance count.
It looked as if they had done just that in the ninth minute when captain Andy Moran slotted the ball to the Mayo net after receiving a lovely hand-off pass. However, this goal was then disallowed by referee Cormac O'Reilly, who adjudged that the hand-pass in question was delivered illegally. Replays seemed to confirm his suspicions.
The next five minutes or so were choppy and highlighted the poor football that was on display for most of the afternoon. Each side registered a pair of wides, with Mayo, in particular, guilty of wasting reasonably straightforward scoring opportunities. Sligo then made them pay, with Mark Breheny (free), David Kelly, and Adrian Marren, adding to their tally. Mayo kicked a further two wides in the mean time before finally ending their twenty-four minute barren spell through an Enda Varley free. The Mayo men were by this stage causing Sligo major problems by running at their defence, and the Division I sides superior pace and power looked ready to show. But Mayo couldn't find the target at all, and let another couple of scoring opportunities go a begging, including two decent goal chances. The sides went in at half-time with two between them 0-05 to 0-03, in Sligo's favour.
While Mayo's scoring problems continued in the second half, Sligo began to have some of their own. The scoring efficiency, on so few possessions, which had seen them take command of the game, deserted them, and it seemed that they had no one to turn to when they needed a big score. Mayo brought on Aidan O'Shea, just a few minutes into the second period, and he had a positive effect, upping the intensity in the middle of the park, as Mayo began to shift up the gears. The fired off three points early in the half, to one from Sligo, and we were back where we started, all level, at 0-06 apiece.
Sligo though, appeared the weather the storm, and with the introduction of Eamon O'Hara in the forty-seventh minute, they began to asserted themselves on the game again. A couple of magnificent long-range frees from David Maye, had the Yeat's men ahead again, and with Mayo registering a couple of nervous wides, the momentum seemed to be finally shifting.
With just over ten minutes to go, and their provincial crown on the line, Mayo were looking eminently beatable and desperately needed someone to grab the game by the scruff of the neck again. Thankfully for them they found those men, with Aidan O'Shea settling their nerves and tying it up again, with a well-taken point after a superb off the ball run. The Mayo men had the next two points as well, and suddenly it was backs to the wall time again for Sligo. The ever reliable Mark Breheny slotted over another free in the sixty-eigth minute to narrow the gap to the minimum once again, but it was just too late for Sligo. Lee Keegan capped a solid win for Mayo with an excellent point after a marauding run forward from the half-back line.
It was a game that really could have gone either way but in the end it was Mayo's midfield dominance that decided it. With the Mayo forwards having such an off day, they needed every scrap of possession they won in midfield, and in the end that was what got them enough scoring opportunities to see off Sligo's challenge. For Sligo, this is a heartbreaking defeat for a team that will now look back with regret on two Connacht final's the might have won.
It looked as if they had done just that in the ninth minute when captain Andy Moran slotted the ball to the Mayo net after receiving a lovely hand-off pass. However, this goal was then disallowed by referee Cormac O'Reilly, who adjudged that the hand-pass in question was delivered illegally. Replays seemed to confirm his suspicions.
The next five minutes or so were choppy and highlighted the poor football that was on display for most of the afternoon. Each side registered a pair of wides, with Mayo, in particular, guilty of wasting reasonably straightforward scoring opportunities. Sligo then made them pay, with Mark Breheny (free), David Kelly, and Adrian Marren, adding to their tally. Mayo kicked a further two wides in the mean time before finally ending their twenty-four minute barren spell through an Enda Varley free. The Mayo men were by this stage causing Sligo major problems by running at their defence, and the Division I sides superior pace and power looked ready to show. But Mayo couldn't find the target at all, and let another couple of scoring opportunities go a begging, including two decent goal chances. The sides went in at half-time with two between them 0-05 to 0-03, in Sligo's favour.
While Mayo's scoring problems continued in the second half, Sligo began to have some of their own. The scoring efficiency, on so few possessions, which had seen them take command of the game, deserted them, and it seemed that they had no one to turn to when they needed a big score. Mayo brought on Aidan O'Shea, just a few minutes into the second period, and he had a positive effect, upping the intensity in the middle of the park, as Mayo began to shift up the gears. The fired off three points early in the half, to one from Sligo, and we were back where we started, all level, at 0-06 apiece.
Sligo though, appeared the weather the storm, and with the introduction of Eamon O'Hara in the forty-seventh minute, they began to asserted themselves on the game again. A couple of magnificent long-range frees from David Maye, had the Yeat's men ahead again, and with Mayo registering a couple of nervous wides, the momentum seemed to be finally shifting.
With just over ten minutes to go, and their provincial crown on the line, Mayo were looking eminently beatable and desperately needed someone to grab the game by the scruff of the neck again. Thankfully for them they found those men, with Aidan O'Shea settling their nerves and tying it up again, with a well-taken point after a superb off the ball run. The Mayo men had the next two points as well, and suddenly it was backs to the wall time again for Sligo. The ever reliable Mark Breheny slotted over another free in the sixty-eigth minute to narrow the gap to the minimum once again, but it was just too late for Sligo. Lee Keegan capped a solid win for Mayo with an excellent point after a marauding run forward from the half-back line.
It was a game that really could have gone either way but in the end it was Mayo's midfield dominance that decided it. With the Mayo forwards having such an off day, they needed every scrap of possession they won in midfield, and in the end that was what got them enough scoring opportunities to see off Sligo's challenge. For Sligo, this is a heartbreaking defeat for a team that will now look back with regret on two Connacht final's the might have won.
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